MAYSA

MAYSA

Blues Alley – February 28, 2004

by Dawn! E. Robinson

for VocalMusician.com

Okay - first of all, let me start by saying that only the die-hard fan gets a ticket for a 10pm show at Washington DC’s Blues Alley and then comes early to get close to the entrance and, thereby, get a decent seat close to the stage. I say this because, as any die-hard fan who has done this knows, there’s a “reality show” going on in the alley before the 10pm show inside even begins. The “children of the night” - those long-tailed cousins of the squirrel (yea, you guessed it) are always on hand to provide a little pre-show “entertainment” as they try to make their way from their hang-out across from the entrance to their other little hide-out in some hole located along the wall where the line to get in is forming. If the die-hard fan gets a good seat, still has an appetite for more than the two-drink minimum and a voice left from all the shrieking they've done outside, then it’s a good night. When my buddy, KanArey, told me she had gotten tickets for MAYSA’s 10:00 show on Feb. 28, I knew what we were in for – having stood in that spot on many occasions to see NANCY WILSON’s 10:00 show. But already I digress…

Accompanied by two backup singers, keyboardist, saxophonist, guitarist, bassist and drummer, the very (pronounced ve ve) small Blues Alley stage looked as crowded and cluttered as I remembered it to be when I sang there last with MAYSA in July 2002. Don't get me wrong - these guys are all good players. And a couple of them are friends of mine. But, while MAYSA deserves credit for hiring so many cats, I have never felt like she needed that much accompaniment. On this night the band was too loud, although her sound guy told me I was sitting in a “dead” spot. Whatever…

Dressed in blue jeans and a dark blue & white top, MAYSA opened with her dance cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Bottle” and the rest of the show was a good balance of her work as a soloist and as part of the group Incognito.

She followed with “Out of the Blue,” the title track from her latest CD, on which she did a really nice vocal percussion solo over the ending vamp. Next came “Can We Change the World” from the Maysa CD, “Love What You Do For Me” which was her first recording with Incognito and “Raindrops.”

Introducing the aria that comes before “All My Life,” she talked about always being nervous before singing it, but – nervous or not – she nailed it as usual.

Before singing the next tune, “Shadows & the Light” from the All My Life CD, MAYSA mounted a stool and joked that if she fell off, she would walk right out the door and not look at anybody. That drew a big laugh and she didn’t fall. “Shadows” is a song that she doesn’t usually have in the show, so I had sent her an email request for it and would like to think that’s why she added it. Whether or not that was the reason, it’s probably my all-time favorite of her songs and one that really shows off her vocal range and tonal qualities. The “colors” she uses in that song are just phenomenal on the record and her live version that evening was just as good. Unfortunately, the instrumental solos ran too long (as they also do on the record) and I felt people in the audience getting kind of restless.

MAYSA followed “Shadows” with four songs from her current Out of the Blue CD – “Mr. So Damn Fine,” “Blue Horizon,” “Friendly Pressure” and her version of the Earth Wind & Fire anthem, “Keep Your Head to the Sky.”

She closed with her hit from the Incognito days, “Deep Waters” and, after her two backup singers took solos, she called me up out of the audience. Now, having shrieked at the “children of the night” pre-show in the alley, eaten spinach and artichoke dip and drank half a “cosmo,” I doubt that I was in the best vocal condition. But, I do what I can and again, I digress…

This was the third time I had seen MAYSA’s show from an audience perspective. It is said that first impressions are lasting ones. I remember when I first heard her – at Blues Alley in fact – back in 1995, I wondered why she needed a band that size with her. During the seven years that I sang with her, I wondered why she needed a band that size. That evening, I wondered the same thing. Just once I’d like to hear her with just a trio. I think MAYSA and those die-hard fans of hers would be pleasantly surprised.

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