About MAYA
Maya Cunningham is a jazz vocalist in the lineage of Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Etta Jones, and Lorez Alexandria. She is a master storyteller through song, a virtuoso improvisor and has a shimmering five octave range. Her approach draws on the emotional delivery of the Holiday lineage and the improvisational spontaneity of Vaughan. She studied with Grady Tate and the legendary Sheila Jordan. She creates energy when she sings with impassioned vocals and heart wrenching interpretations. Called a “talented young singer” by Village Voice jazz critic Gary Giddins, her vocals combine the elements of fiery soul, blues and be-bop jazz phrasing.
With a dazzling smile and an electric persona, Maya arrived on the New York City jazz scene in the early 2000s, giving a whirlwind of performances around the city. She has been a featured vocalist at venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center, and on national tours with well - known jazz musicians, including Wycliffe Gordon, Ali Jackson, Stephon Harris and Rodney Whitaker. Combining the improvisation and phrasing of the many early jazz singers who have influenced her, she reinterprets standards, new songs and her own compositions with an original style that is all her own. Her shimmering five octave range all at once floats into the stratosphere of the rarified coloratura and then swoops back down into gut - bucket soul power. She is also an accomplished visual artist who fuses her music with her textile, monoprint and fused glass montages. Cunningham is also an accomplished composer and has penned over fifty songs.
Ms. Cunningham holds a Bachelors of Music degree in jazz studies (voice) from Howard University and a Master of Arts degree in jazz performance from Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. She is also a scholar of Black music and culture, and has received an MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She sings in several African languages, including Ewe, Bamana, and Setwana. She is pursuing a PhD at the WEB Du Bois Institute for African American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
With a dazzling smile and an electric persona, Maya arrived on the New York City jazz scene in the early 2000s, giving a whirlwind of performances around the city. She has been a featured vocalist at venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center, and on national tours with well - known jazz musicians, including Wycliffe Gordon, Ali Jackson, Stephon Harris and Rodney Whitaker. Combining the improvisation and phrasing of the many early jazz singers who have influenced her, she reinterprets standards, new songs and her own compositions with an original style that is all her own. Her shimmering five octave range all at once floats into the stratosphere of the rarified coloratura and then swoops back down into gut - bucket soul power. She is also an accomplished visual artist who fuses her music with her textile, monoprint and fused glass montages. Cunningham is also an accomplished composer and has penned over fifty songs.
Ms. Cunningham holds a Bachelors of Music degree in jazz studies (voice) from Howard University and a Master of Arts degree in jazz performance from Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. She is also a scholar of Black music and culture, and has received an MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She sings in several African languages, including Ewe, Bamana, and Setwana. She is pursuing a PhD at the WEB Du Bois Institute for African American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.