Interviewed by Mary Bentley
July 11, 2007

Maysa Leak has been amazing audiences for years with her wonderful voice; first, as part of the British group, Incognito, and as a solo performer in her own right.  Once you hear her sing, you don’t forget her voice.  Smoothviews caught up with Maysa shortly after recording her first ever live CD at the Birchmere.

Smoothviews (SV): Quite a show you put on at the Birchmere last week!
Maysa (ML): Oh really?  Thank you.

SV: We really enjoyed it.  I hope everything turned out well for the album. 
ML: It did.  It sounds really great.  The enthusiasm that night was unbelievable. 

SV: You chose a great venue.  That’s a great place to do a live recording.
ML: I’m glad I chose that place.  I like the sound.  It came out great.  I didn’t know it was going to come out that nice.  It was incredible.

SV: From your perspective how was the whole experience?
ML: It was surreal.  I think the most exciting thing is that I knew I owned the record.  For me, it was exciting knowing that I was producing, at that point.  I liked that feeling of being in charge of my own thing, and having something for my son in the future.  That’s a great thing.

SV: We saw you at Berks with Jason Miles.  I know you’ve done some shows with him recently.  How was it working with him?  And, are you going to be doing more projects with him in the future?
ML: We have a lot of shows coming up before the end of the year, and into next year.  He’s just such a sweet man.  It’s nice working with someone who’s so genuine in the industry, not trying to take something from you.  He seems to be really supportive of what I’m trying to do.  He’s such a nice guy.  I really like working with him.

SV: That’s good. He knows everybody and has worked with everybody.
ML: He really does, and he’s so laid back about it.  Most people would be bragging all the time.  Jason doesn’t do that.

SV: You performed on the All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise in January.  How was it working with all of those musicians?
ML: A ball.  Being in such close quarters with people like Gerald Albright, I’m such a fan.  I’ve met him before, but, you get to know people a little more.  I can’t wait for the one in October. [Capital Jazz Super Cruise]

SV: Tell me about the Underground Divas concert, which took place in Atlanta.
ML: Yes, in Atlanta on June 20th.  It was really a beautiful show. [Maysa, Caron Wheeler, and N’Dea Davenport]

SV: I’ll bet it was.  Are there any more dates planned for that?
ML: We’re working on one now in September in Miami, Florida.  It will be the American divas this time.  Hopefully, it will be me, Lalah (Hathaway), Ledisi, and Amel (Larrieux.) 

SV: Now, you just released Fee the Fire about two months ago.  It is covers of songs that a lot of people know and identify with.  Do the songs have any special meaning for you that you chose them to go on this album?
ML: At the beginning of choosing all of these songs, when I first signed the deal, I had met the love of my life.  I kind of chose songs that reflected our growing relationship.

SV: I read that you auditioned for Incognito over the telephone?  That’s impressive.
ML: Yes, I was out in L.A. doing background work and some sessions work for a British drummer named Steve Harvey.  He was Bluey’s (leader of Incognito) best friend.  He said, “Maysa, how would you like to audition for my best friend’s band in London?  My best friend is looking for a new singer for his band.  If you want to audition, just let me know.”  I told him, ‘Yes, definitely.’  Later, I found out that Bluey called me because he asked Steve out of all the names on the list, (there were 25 or 26 names), he asked which one he would leave his children with.  He said me.  And that’s why Bluey called me first.  Then, when we were talking on the phone, just having a conversation about music, and about what I wanted, and that I loved Chaka Khan and Rufus.  It was my dream to be like that.  He was really happy because that’s what his band was about, kind of.  He asked me to sing, “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” on the phone.  I sang that.  I changed the key.  After that, he said “In a few days we’re going to call you back and tell you when we’re going to bring you to London for your next audition.”  The next morning, his manager called me and said, “Maysa, you got it honey.  Bluey’s been jumping up and down all night long.  He’s so excited about your voice.  He said, ‘That’s the one!  That’s the one that’s going to change my whole career!  I found her!  I found her!’”  (Laugh)  That was really sweet.

SV: Amazing.  So, you had to go all the way to London to get a jumpstart?
ML: I did.  A lot of singers have done that.  In a way, I had to do that, too.  It’s great.  I love the vibe over there.  The music is phenomenal.  It wasn’t about how you looked, it was about what kind of feeling you bring to the music.

SV: The actual question I intended was, how does a woman from Baltimore end up in a British band?
ML: When you travel all over the world, you become universal.  Baltimore will always be my home.  I don’t know if I’ll ever move away from here.  I lived in London for 4-1/2 years, but my base is here.

SV: Switching gears a bit.  RSV is a disease that has affected your life personally.  I don’t know if a lot of people are familiar with what RSV is, or the harm it can cause.  Can you tell us a little bit about that?
ML: RSV is Respiratory Syncytial Virus.  What it does is, in babies who are born premature, or at risk (born with heart or lung disease) during flu season, when they get a cold or the flu; it turns into pneumonia kind of quickly.  A lot of babies have died from that.  A lot of babies that people think have died from crib death have actually died of RSV. What the campaign is doing now is trying to reach out to people to check early for signs of RSV.  Like, if you think your baby has a cold, or if your baby is freezing really deeply, or not acting responsive like they usually are, rush them to the hospital.  Most babies under two are hospitalized because of RSV.  It’s a really serious problem and they’ve been trying to make this more aware with March of Dimes.  They’re trying to make people more aware of what this is.  The reason I know of RSV is because when I brought my baby home from Japan, he was about 8 months old.  He had a cold, but one night he was breathing very heavy, and I just went nuts.  I took him right to the hospital.  It turned out that that they thought he was getting a really bad flu.  They started giving him medicine.  It helped him not to develop all of the symptoms of the disease – the pneumonia, and all that kind of stuff.  My whole involvement with the campaign was to try to get the government to make a preventative treatment of RSV.

SV: Thank you.  I think it’s important that people are made aware of this.  Now, I’ve noticed that you’re very open, both professionally and personally.  Even during your shows, there are stories to go with every song. (Laughs)
ML: I get a lot of e-mails from people saying they relate to my music.  They want to know why I felt this way, or why I wrote this song, or why I chose that song.  I kind of got into that habit of doing that at the show because people ask me all the time.

SV: I think that’s one of the things that endears your fans to you, that you’re open, and that you go through the same things that the rest of us go through.
ML: Exactly! (Laughs)  Maybe more though.  I deal with more crazy people than normal people. (Laugh)

SV: Does it sometimes make it difficult to be that open? 
ML: The only difficulty comes when I get crazy e-mails from people.  On my website, I do a diary and I talk about how I’m having a hard time losing weight, or, before I met my boyfriend, I wish I’d find that man.  I haven’t had anything really negative happen to me because I was honest.  I think its okay so far.  I think I’m going to have to tone it down a bit though; I don’t have anything to hide.  I’m a goody two shoes, and, if it helps somebody…
 
SV: You did the jingle for a Hot Pockets commercial?
ML: Yes, I did the original one.

SV: Have you done any others that we would recognize?
ML: I did one for Amtrak back in 2000.  It was a take on Dinah Washington’s “What a Difference a Day Makes.”

SV: I remember going to see Patti Austin years ago.  She did a whole thing during her show with all of the jingles she used to do.  There were a lot of them.  I recognized a lot of them.
ML: She and Luther just did all of them.  And now, people don’t even want to pay you anymore.  They will make millions but they don’t want to pay you anything to do the work.  It’s kind of rough.  The whole industry – everything is changing so quickly, but not for the best, in a lot of ways.  It’s hard to make money off of these commercials now.

SV: The live CD that’s coming out next year, Maysa Live, marks your transition to your own record label.  You said earlier that this is your project, and you’re in charge of everything, and this is for the benefit of your son Jazz’s future.  Why, at this point in your career, did you choose to make this move?
ML: Because it was my 7th solo CD and seven is the number of completion.  I thought it was time for it.  I’ve done six albums for other people.  I get upfront money, but I never see a royalty at all, ever.  [I’ve] never seen a royalty.  They claim I never recouped.  I got tired of that.  I’m 40 years old and I’m not getting any royalties.  These companies are not selling the music.  I’m not saying that I’m going to do better, but, a live album sells a lot better anyway.  People are excited about having a live album.  To own this one is going to be great.  I think it’s going to have longevity.  People will always come back and buy this record.

SV: I love live CD’s.  It’s the next best thing to being at the actual concert.  This one is going to be special for me because I was at the actual concert.  The way things are going now, this makes it a good time to be an independent artist.  There are so many ways to get the music out there now; the internet, You Tube, CDBaby, iTunes –
ML: Selling it out the trunk of the car!  I’ll be selling them at the gigs, at the swap meet, I’m going everywhere.  All of that stuff.  I’m going to try to make money for this little boy.  I promised myself that I’m not going to spend it on anything else.  It’s all going to his college fund, or whatever fund.  In this industry, I don’t have a pension.  I have to really figure this out.  I think turning 40 did that for me.  At 40, I don’t feel old at all.  And, I’m glad to be 40.  I just have to think about working smarter and not harder.

SV: With the majors closing their jazz departments, I just think it’s a good time…the best time, for people who are doing things on their own.
ML: It’s really a good thing.  I’m really happy about it.  I’m not saying I’ll never sign.  I have some offers coming in now for me to sign, more independent stuff.  I wish I could sign with one of the majors, but the majors aren’t really major anymore.

SV: No, they’re not.  They’ve taken a backseat to downloads, and all of that stuff.
ML: Even more so, I’m trying to find another way to figure this out then.  I’m going to take a little break after 2008, from doing records for awhile, maybe a couple of years.  Then I’ll come back with a straight ahead record.  In 2008, I’m going to put out two records – the live record, then, at the end of 2008, I’m going to put out the Metamorphosis CD.  It’s going to have all original music on it.  No more covers for awhile.  I’m taking a break.

SV: That kind of takes care of the last question, because the last question was, what’s in store for the near future, and, what can your fans expect from you?
ML: That, and the Revenge of the Underground Divas tour.  I think that’s going to pick up a lot.  The Metamorphosis thing is going to be interesting because the theme that goes along with that whole record is I transform myself physically.

SV: Well, that just about wraps it up.  Thank you so much for chatting with me this evening.  I look forward to all the good things you have in store for the rest of the year, and into 2008; especially the live CD. 
ML: Thank you.