Perhaps the most curious aspect of that headline is “genre debut.” The nearly 18-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter Maya Rae was singing sophisticated jazz at age 12, recorded her first jazz album at 13 and issued another of mostly standards, Sapphire Birds, in 2017. Apart from her natural gift for vocal phrasing, Can You See Me? is completely different as Rae moves into a singer-songwriter realm for the first time. The CBC describes Rae, saying, “A supremely gifted artist who is able to phrase like Sarah Vaughan but write a lyric like Joni Mitchell.” In fact, in the last three years, Maya has performed all over Canada and participated in the Canadian jazz festivals, numerous folk, roots and outdoor music festivals and sold-out theaters and clubs across British Columbia and western Canada as well as major events in Toronto and Vancouver.
Maya started writing songs with her brother, Gabriel, in the summer of 2018 inspired by the classic singers and songwriters like Carole King, Nina Simone and Joni Mitchell as well as more contemporary stars like Adele and Ed Sheeran. Armed with original material, she sent a demo tape to one of the premier Canadian roots artists and producers, Steve Dawson. Dawson operates out of both Vancouver and Nashville, and invited Maya to the latter. Dawson, who played guitars, gathered Kai Welch (keyboards/trumpet), Jamie Dick (drums), John Estes (bass) as well as The Birds of Chicago on supporting vocals. Five days of intense recording resulted in the album, recorded live off the floor with just one vocal retake in the entire five days.
This doesn’t sound like an artist making her first foray into the singer-songwriter category nor does it sound like Dawson’s usual bluesy roots album with a couple of exceptions (i.e. “Freedom Fighter”). Most of the songs are melodically and rhythmically complex, with several changes. If she was listening to Joni Mitchell, it sounds as if she favors Joni’s jazzy side. Maya’s vocals are exceptionally pure, with articulation and phrasing that exceedingly belie her youth. Even the lyrics depict a maturity that’s remarkable and her pure alto voice alto is comparable to the very early Emmylou.
”All of the songs are relevant to my own life,” she says. “The title track is about removing the masks we wear to reveal our true selves….’New for Me’ is about my first love and trying to figure out my emotions. Having never been in love before, it was hard to know how and what I ‘should’ feel. ‘Moon Girl’ is about a friend of mine who is lost and making bad choices about how to cope with her life. All of the songs on the album are real to me and explore things I’ve been going through in the past year.”
By turns joyful, pensive, dreamy, and ever thoughtful this is a stunning entrance for a singer-songwriter who will be with us for years to come. And, as this writer has attested to on numerous occasions, pay attention when Steve Dawson is involved. His guiding hand is one of the very best.
Photo by Mark Whitehead
