Sophisticated Contralto · Bay Area Jazz
"A sultry contralto loaded with inflections reminiscent of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Mahalia Jackson — yet very much her own."
— San Francisco Chronicle
Maye Cavallaro's musical world took shape early — her mother's record collection at six, her brother's vintage blues LPs at nine, piano studies at ten. By her early teens she had found her touchstones: Carmen McRae, Billie Holiday, Esther Phillips, Miriam Makeba. The result is a sophisticated contralto drawing on jazz, blues, classical, and world music — deeply rooted yet entirely her own.
Her debut, Come What Maye (1982), introduced a musical sensibility and voice that would deepen over the next two decades. In the Middle of a Kiss (Redhead Records, 1995) was named a top ten jazz recording of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle. Never Let Me Go expanded the ensemble; Hearts featured guitarist Mimi Fox, saxophonist Paul McCandless, and percussionist Ian Dogole in a program ranging across jazz, blues, and four Duke Ellington compositions.
She performed across the United States and Japan — at Yoshi's, The Plush Room, Sweetwater, and The Great American Music Hall in the Bay Area; at Eighty-Eights in New York; and weekly at the Compass Rose in San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel. In 2004, Town & Country named her "The Standout at New York's Cabaret Convention."
Her teaching focused on craft, feeling, and discipline — the fundamentals that separate a singer from a storyteller. She taught at the Jazzschool, the California Jazz Conservatory, the Blue Bear School of Music, and on the faculty at UC Berkeley. Her Composer Workshop Series grew out of that practice and became the foundation of the archive you're reading now.
Her daughter, Lian Amber, is CEO of professional loudspeaker company BASSBOSS and the designer of this archive. The tradition continues.
Performing across Bay Area stages and New York's cabaret circuit.
"Maye Cavallaro has a haunting voice, is expert at caressing ballads, and displays a wistful and subtle style."
"Cavallaro's easy elegance and burnished vocal beauty, luxurious as purple velvet, suggest a more robust Diana Krall."
"An exuberant sexy voice that wears well, with subtle jazz embellishments."
"There is a rich, melting tone at the center of Maye's voice that lends itself beautifully to her slow savoring of each note."
"Maye Cavallaro sparkles like the best cut diamond — many faceted and well worth showing off."
"She knows how to take an old standard and bring out all of the hidden beauty."