Paula Maya

“Paula is truly a gifted songbird, rarely do you find an artist with such superior talent and composure. Her vocals are filled with positive vibration on "Relax" and "Turn Around" songs. She is like the female version of Bob Marley and Toots Hibbert in one, full of wisdom and lyrics to inspire the mind.” - Donovan Longmore of WESU 88.1FM CT

'Paula Maya is completely original in style and sound. We highly recommend her cds "Paula" and "The 12." We think she is amazing!' - Americana-Music Association Of Texas Musicians

Maya redefines eclectic.
- The Herald

"Paula Maya is the music of the future. She is a stellar singer, prolific songwriter and virtuoso keyboardist with a very fresh and unique sound."
- Bill White, writer for former Seattle PI

“Paula Maya cracks the Seattle code. Like the best of Northwest rock.” - Seattle Sound Magazine

“Wonderful songwriter digs deep into her soul.” - Tom Scanlon, Seattle Times

“A collection of pristine pop that flirts with bossa nova, rock, electronica and even ska.” - Chris Gray, Houston Press

"Seattle-via-Brazil Paula Maya will draw comparisons to Bjork with her alt-pop excursions." - LA Music Connection Magazine

Nominated for 2009 Best Female Singer and Best Non Traditional Rock Instrumentalist - Hot Rocks TV Show Music Awards. - Hot Rocks TV Show

"Maya displays style and talent that have been long time Seattle secret " - Ron Thunman, Northern Lights - Times Standard, Humboldt County

'Paula Maya is an extremely talented singer songwriter and keyboardist. We have performed together and would love to collaborate in the studio in the near future. Her latest CD 'Paula' rocks!' - Teo Lima, award winning producer (Dionne Warwick, Ivan Lins).

"Paula Maya put on a great show for the students...Most of the music was upbeat and easy to get into..you could easily pull out the "feel" of the different influences in the music" - Seattle Community College, by Mike Phillips

"I saw Paula Maya and her band at Selena's Blue Room in Galveston, Texas and let me tell ya, they ROCKED, that little one-room club was shaking on it's joists! Paula has tons of enthusiasm for what she does, she can play that dang piano, she's got a wonderful, clear voice, and she's quite a tune smith as well" - Timothy E. Thompson - Midsummer Books owner

Pianist/Vocalist Paula Maya return to her fans in Houston for an evening of sensual music at Cezanne, Houston. - Jazzhouston.com

Paula Maya, a talented Brazilian-American singer, plays a hometown show at the Triple Door.
Tom Scanlon - The Seattle Times

"Raised in Rio, Maya has been a prolific performer around Seattle since the late '90s. Her unusual mix of music, anchored by her own strong vocals, continues to earn her new fans" - The Seattle Weekly

PAULA MAYA - BRAZILIAN SONGWRITER
by Rachel Shimp

Paula Maya is a Brazilian singer-songwriter living in Seattle, but you won't find her or her band doing covers of "Chove Chuva" or "Desafinado" -All her songs are original and primarily in English-. Since 1999, Maya's taste for jazz, world, electronica, Latin, and classical has met with the blues-funk sensibility of her bandmates Ben Smith (drummer of Heart) and Pat Hewitt (guitarist, of the Rangehoods) to carve out a musical niche in an active, competitive city. Maya is skilled as a pianist, and her voice has been likened to an early Kate Bush-rich, slightly unusual, and affecting. Maya left her birthplace of Rio de Janeiro after college, first moving to Houston, then in the late '90s following a friend to Seattle, where she's built a career. While the winter's early sunsets get her down, she notes that Seattle is surrounded by mountains and water, like Rio-and while Mount Rainier is no Corcovado, it's majestic in its own way. The most remarkable difference between the two cities, she says, is Seattle's sleepy vibe. "There's so much energy in Rio-people are in the streets a lot, and there's music everywhere," Maya says. "Every time I go visit, when I come back it's really a shock, and I have to acclimate myself again." Like many in the local music community, Maya considers the policing of it somewhat uptight, but she finds support among musicians. "It's very expensive to live in Rio. Here, you can have a part-time job-of course, if you don't have a family-and get by, but that's impossible in Brazil," Maya says of her decision to pursue her music career in Seattle. "Musically, for rock, [this is] a better place to be for connections and to be influenced. What keeps me here is the development of my music and the friends that I have," she says. In addition to performing with her band, Maya has been co-hosting the KBCS-FM (91.3) radio show Raizes ("roots" in Portuguese) with Samia Panni since 1998. Panni launched the show nearly 20 years ago, but Maya's arrival brought Brazilian pop to the program, which confused listeners at first. "At the time, KBCS was a lot more folk. I started playing rock, and people were like, 'I thought this was a Brazilian show!' We said, 'Well, this is what the youth are listening to in Rio,'" Maya explains. Now, with Brazilian pop's visibility on the rise-psychedelic legends Os Mutantes were one of the most highly anticipated touring acts this summer-you might say that Raizes helped set the stage. Maya isn't just interested in spreading knowledge of South American music; she also feels passionately about issues affecting immigrants. She notes that the Montgomery, Ala.-based nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center recently reported a 33 percent increase in hate groups in the United States since 2000. "I was horrified," she says. "One reason is that people are being incited to be violent toward immigrants, even legal immigrants. [Other] people need to be aware of that."-Rachel Shimp

Paula Maya's Picks BEST FESTIVAL/STREET PARTY: "The Fremont Fair is always fun-I was on the float this year and had a blast." BEST PUBLIC RADIO STATION: "If you travel the country and try to tune in, it can be a disaster, so we're very lucky to have good radio here." Mostly, she listens to KBCS and KEXP-FM (90.3). Having studied medieval music, she enjoys Derek Blackwell's Mostly Medieval on KBCS (Sundays at 6 p.m.). BEST DINING DISTRICT: The International District. "You go to Chinatown, and pretty much every restaurant is great." BEST SOUTH AMERICAN RESTAURANT: Tempero do Brasil; she's also heard good things about Samba (6400 Roosevelt Way). BEST LOCAL GETAWAY SPOT: "I'm so occupied with my work that I usually don't do that, but I have to say that with all the mountains and the islands, Seattle is just perfect. A one-hour drive can get you to beautiful places."
- Seattle Weekly

"Paula Maya sings at Bumbershoot. Todays highlights include Macy Gray and Bonnie Rait" - The Seattle Times