Sunday • 6:30 - 8 p.m. Swingin’ Stage
A unique, instantly identifiable vocal sound encompassing both jazz and R&B. GRAMMYnominated soul/jazz Maysa, celebrates her 25th year as a solo recording artist this year. Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Maysa Leak knew early on that she would be a musician. “I was six years old when my mom took me to see Purlie,” she recalls. “When Melba Moore came on stage and sang her heart out, I knew at that moment I wanted
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Maysa to make people feel the way she made me feel.” Maysa’s journey took her from singing upon graduation with Stevie Wonder for a year to becoming the lead singer for Incognito in the 90s. In 1995 she recorded her first solo album. After celebrating her 26th year as a solo artist, Maysa kicks off the summer with her new album, Love Is A Battlefield, 2018 Jacksonville Jazz Festival
a hand picked collection of Maysa’s favorite songs, redone with her own unique soulful twist, solidifying her as the greatest soul-jazz singer of her generationthe latest in a distinguished line of singers that stretches back through Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, Will Downing, Angela Bofill, Marlena Shaw and more recently, Ledisi and Chrisette Michele.
