“I never felt like I was ‘enough’,” Mimi Fox explains. “And now, for the most part, on my better days, I do. And that is a real gift of my aging and my healing, the changes I’ve gone through in my life. I’m really grateful for that ‘enoughness.’ That sense of being enough is great because a lot of things can flow from there.”
Mimi Fox is a mature woman at the height of an unusual career for a woman her age: she is an in-demand performer and composer for jazz guitar. In this conversation, we delve into some of the aspects of her life and personality that may have given her the drive and personal strength to walk into venues where she was clearly not welcomed. We also learn about the people and music that did welcome her into jazz and fed her soul as she learned her trade and now tours the world.
“I am a lot more able to be vulnerable, which I think has impacted my music,” Mimi says about getting older. “And I’m not afraid of that vulnerability. When I was younger, I was afraid people would hurt me for that vulnerability. Now, I see it as one of my greatest strengths, because from that vulnerability, I’m able to be completely honest and transparent, and that makes for a deeper listening experience.”
For more information:
- Check out Mimi’s recordings
- Check out her tour schedule, including upcoming dates at Jazz at Lincoln Center
It was so lovely to record this interview!