MAKING TRACKS: Maya Solovéy

 

Since she was a teenager, Berkshire native Maya Solovéy has been performing and recording music. After having earned a degree in music composition from SUNY Purchase, traveled throughout the world, and established her home base in New York City, Solovéy is a multicultural musical threat, singing in three languages (Spanish and Portuguese in addition to English) and drawing upon the musical traditions of those and other nationalities.

 

Her newest recording, the eponymous Maya Solovéy, co-produced by Grammy Award-winner Bob Brockman, presents the work of a mature twenty-five-year-old artist with a clear sense of herself and her place in the world on numbers that are alternately jazzy, folky, and cinematic, veering from bossa nova to flamenco to chamber-folk. Solovéy wields her voice like a clarinet—it can soar and trill like a bird or sing a dark, soulful tune in deep, sultry tones—and her melodies are set against tasteful, minimalist accompaniment provided by some of Brooklyn’s top musical talents, including cellists Jane Scarpantoni and Erik Friedlander, violinist Tracy Bonham, bassist Todd Sickafoose, and reedman Paul Shapiro. Like many independent artists, Solovéy makes her album available for download on her website on a pay-what-you-want basis. [OCTOBER 2010]

 

THE GOODS

Maya Solovéy
Maya Solovéy
Womb Room Music