Maysa Leak (born August 17, 1966) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer better known by her mononym Maysa. She is well known by fans of

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

both for her solo work and her work with the British band

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Danish film * ''Incognito'' (1997 film), an American crime ...

Early life and career

Leak attended

Milford Mill High School Milford Mill Academy (MMA) is a four-year public high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the west side of the county close to the Baltimore City border just outside the Baltimore Beltway. About the School Milfor ...

in western

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

. After high school, she studied music at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

Baltimore City Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

and graduated with a degree in classical performance. There she performed as a member of the world-famous Morgan State University Choir under the direction of the late Nathan Carter. Leak met performer

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

during a college performance. After receiving her degree from

, Maysa headed to Southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to perform with

’s female backup group Wonderlove. While with Wonder, Maysa was a vocalist on the ''Jungle Fever'' soundtrack, and performed on numerous television shows including ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'', ''

Oprah Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

'' and ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

''. It was during an over-the-telephone audition in the early 1990s that Maysa became a member of the British jazz/funk/R&B band

and, in 1992, she relocated to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and recorded ''Tribes, Vibes & Scribes'', featuring the hit single "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing". Since then, Maysa has appeared on over seven Incognito recordings. Maysa recorded her self-titled debut in 1995, followed by her second album ''All My Life'' in 2000, then ''Out of the Blue'' (2002), ''Smooth Sailing'' (2004), ''Sweet Classic Soul'' (2006), and ''Feel the Fire'' (2007). In 2008, ''Metamorphosis'' peaked at No. 1 on '' Billboard'''s Top Contemporary Jazz top 100 chart and No. 13 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In 2010, ''A Woman in Love'', Maysa's 8th solo CD, debuted at No. 1 on the Contemporary Jazz Charts. Maysa's 9th solo album, ''Motions of Love'', released in November 2011, debuted at No. 1 on ''Billboard''`s Contemporary Jazz Chart and Number 7 on the R&B charts. Maysa has also collaborated with well-known jazz performers like

Gerald Veasley Gerald Veasley (born July 28, 1955) is an American jazz bass guitarist. Veasley was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he played in R&B groups as a teenager. He worked with Joe Zawinul from 1988 to 1995, and began releasing h ...

Rick Braun Rick Braun (born July 6, 1955) is a smooth jazz trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone and keyboards player, vocalist, composer, and record producer. Career Braun was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and attended Dieruff High School. His mother was a se ...

Will Downing Wilfred "Will" Downing (born November 29, 1963) is an American singer and songwriter. He is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who was a member of the R&B group Unlimited Touch. Biography Downing enrolled in Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, ...

, Jason Miles' Soul Summit, Rhythm Logic,

Jonathan Butler Jonathan Kenneth Butler (born 10 October 1961) is a South African singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music. Biography Born and raised in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa, during Ap ...

, and

Pieces of a Dream Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * Pieces (video game), ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game f ...

. In 2009, Maysa won the very first new Soul Train Award named for the brand's new owners, CENTRIC, The Centric Award: Soul Approved/Underground. Maysa was a spokesperson for

respiratory syncytial virus Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), also called human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) and human orthopneumovirus, is a common, contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract. It is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. ...

(RSV), a disease that can be fatal to premature babies. She appears in RSV

PSA PSA, PsA, Psa, or psa may refer to: Biology and medicine * Posterior spinal artery * Primary systemic amyloidosis, a disease caused by the accumulation of abnormal proteins * Prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme used as a blood tracer for pros ...

commercials, with her son Jazz, sponsored for the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

Personal life

Maysa continues to live in Baltimore. She has a son named Jazz.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leak, Maysa 1966 births Living people 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Musicians from Baltimore Singers from Maryland Morgan State University alumni 20th-century African-American women singers American women jazz singers American jazz singers Smooth jazz singers American contraltos 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers American contemporary R&B singers American soul singers Ballad musicians Jazz musicians from Maryland Incognito (band) members 21st-century African-American women singers