Who is ArinMaya?
Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based artist, ArinMaya, is a singer/songwriter with her soul wide open. Her style cannot be contained but is often characterized as healing, whether she’s scatting through standards, riffing to R&B or improvising over electrobeat. Her voice culls audiences to remember the sensuality and mystery of Sade, the deep hurt of Billie, and the wisdom of Nina. Her songwriting sends audiences to a hopeful, sometimes private, place where they are comforted, satiated and affirmed.
Hailing from Chicago, ArinMaya was born into the arms of two music-loving parents whose record collections spanned from Paul Simon’s Graceland to Sweet Honey in the Rock, from Aretha’s greatest hits to Pharoah Saunders and Stevie Wonder’s entire discographies. From age 5 she wanted to be in every choir possible, and she was. ArinMaya participated as section leader or soloist in Trinity United Church of Christ’s children’s and teenage choirs, the Community Renewal Society’s All God’s Children and every single choir she could join in high school at the Latin School of Chicago. At age 15, she gave voice to the teenage and women’s drill teams at church, filling the 3,000-seater sanctuary (sans microphone) every third Sunday with “I’ve got a feeling, I’ve got a feeling church, I’ve got a feeling the TUCC drill team’s gonna step for Christ.”
In college at Howard University her focus was studying, but she got to stretch her lungs out for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. as a song leader, and briefly in Howard’s Gospel Choir, then led by Richard Smallwood. A year-long exchange at Stanford allowed ArinMaya to join Everyday People a cappella with whom she toured and recorded an album.
Post-graduation and a few years of 9-5 life, ArinMaya took the bold step of leaving her job for Paris. While in Europe, she also visited Berlin so that after 4 months she had explored and become more comfortable with performing solo for audiences at The Swan Bar, Le Blue Note, and Cotton Club Berlin, sharing the stage with artists like Mario Canonge, Catia Werneck, and Fumi Tokie.
ArinMaya’s return to the states only confirmed she had been traveling in the right direction. She has been writing, collaborating and performing ever since at venues such as Brooklyn’s Joloff Restaurant, D.C.’s National Cherry Blossom Festival, and New York’s world-famous Blue Note.
ArinMaya’s debut recording, The Sound of ArinMaya, was released in Spring 2010 and continues to be well-received by audiences worldwide. 2011 will prove to be even more exciting, as she plans to release her first full-length recording with long-time co-writer and guitarist, Nick Cassarino, as well as some other collaborative projects.
ArinMaya has grown and continues to grow into a widely sought after artist and looks forward to spreading her love for the craft and artistry of music to audiences worldwide.
