Mimi Fox

Among the small circle of established women jazz guitarists that includes Emily Remler and Mary Osborne, Mimi "Fast Fingers" Fox has brought both technical command and fervent energy to the recordings and concerts of Darol Anger, Rhiannon, and Terry Garthwaite.

Largely self-taught, she began with folk idioms until John Coltrane’s Giant Steps reached her at age fourteen. Those early touchstones—Aretha Franklin, Dixieland, and traditional jazz—continue to surface in her distinctive readings of jazz, inflected with swing, blues, Latin turns, and, above all, bebop.

Her debut album, Against the Grain, displayed an agile command of standards and imaginative medleys that persuaded longtime jazz devotees, startled younger listeners, and drew a few pop fans as well. The follow-up, Mimi Fox: Live, revealed the full force of her improvisational command, supported by responsive collaborators. ~ Laura Post