Maya Carina

Native Californian singer songwriter Maya Carina was classically trained in piano starting at the age of 4 and has been influenced by jazz, Prince, Major Lazer, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, David Guetta, Black Eyed Peas, and Sade.  Maya has always felt drawn to music as a powerful form of communication and began writing and singing her own songs at an early age.  She attended Humboldt University and graduated with degrees in Piano Performance and Biochemistry.
 
Maya lived in Los Angeles for 10 years when she was signed to the U.K. record label Buck’s Music and she produced her first solo album ‘Sonic Soul’.  During this time, she toured extensively in support of the album and traveled across the country to perform and record with music legends such as Jimmy Cobb (Miles Davis drums), Deacon Jones (John Lee Hooker), Hammond B,  Danny 'Kootch' Kortchmar (Carole King, guitar), Larry Campbell (Levon Helm guitars & fiddle), the Reverend Lois Dejean's gospel choir (Mahalia Jackson), The Jerry Jumonville's Spotted Cats Brass Section (Dr. John), Guitar Skip Edwards (Lucinda Williams), and others.  The splash created by ‘Sonic Soul’ provided introductions to many Los Angeles based songwriters and to a lot of fun performances.
 
In 2011 Maya headed home to San Francisco to start a family.  In the Bay Area, she’s dedicated her time to writing and co-writing for a wide variety of local artists while nurturing young talent in songwriting and piano/vocal musicality as a private music teacher.  Her focus with her students has been to encourage experimentation, express personal passions in music, and support the development of each student’s unique voice.  She is currently involved in several song projects and is finishing an album that highlights some Bay Area Latin Jazz musicians, including Grammy winner Christian Tumalan and Grammy winner Christian Pepin.
   
Maya believes in the power of music to change lives!