Paula by Paula Maya

” When the lyrics become overly ethereal , as in “Patience (Job),” a delightful melodic twist comes along to bring the song back into Earth’s orbit. Maya’s vocals are impeccable throughout, applying various tonal approaches, some of which are enhanced by multi-tracked harmonies."

Bill White, Seattle Sound Magazine, April 07

"(...)Rich, slightly unusual, and affecting(...)"

Rachel Schimp, Seattle Weekly

"Maya likes to call her energetic, yet sophisticated style music of the future. She may be onto something there, but only time will tell. Her musical abilities, especially on keyboard come from a long and dedicated road filled with hard work, practice and about a half a shake of luck. The smooth voiced Maya was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and

it was in Brazil that her interest in music was discovered and cultivated. Her love of music must not be interpreted as an adaptation of any particular musical style. She embraced the music itself and had her own ideas about the direction and content her music would take. She studied with some of the masters while in Brazil, primarily focusing on jazz

and bossa nova. By now the talented young lady was about to

spread her wings and fly to one of the hottest musical areas of the world in the last 20 plus years — Seattle.

Maya hit the streets running as she honed her craft in a new

world while continuing to create her own sound. This is not something that is said of a lot of groups, both new and old. She still strays away from the classics in any genre. As a matter of fact, according to her bio, “All her songs are original and primarily in English.” That’s always reassuring.(...) The Latin beats accompanied with smooth jazz vocals are only accentuated with her keyboard qualities; she is indeed a virtuoso on the keyboard. In addition to the beat, there is always a sweet guitar close by.(...) She is all about the music, but emotion plays a large part in her development of music. She writes songs that effect the emotions, plus or minus — just enjoy them.

Speaking of songs, an assortment of new songs are being featured on a new album, aptly named Paula. Maya and Yellow House Records worked long and hard on the material that appears on this new disc and they hope that you enjoy it too. When previewing some of the cuts, what struck me most was the manner in which she can go from ultra silky to what I call running with the drums, in just a few bars. She truly has a versatile voice. From “Full Moon,” where moonlight romance is mentioned to the straight beat and serious tone of “War Again,” Maya displays the style and talent that have been a long time Seattle secret."

Ron Thunman at northernlights, Times-Standard

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