Leyla McCalla explained

Leyla McCalla
Birth Name:Leyla Sarah McCalla
Birth Date:3 October 1985
Birth Place:New York City, United States
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Leyla Sarah McCalla[1] (born October 3,[2] 1985)[3] is an American classical and folk musician.[4] She was a cellist with the Grammy Award-winning[5] string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, but left to focus on her solo career.[6]

Background

Both of McCalla's parents were born in Haiti. Her father Jocelyn McCalla[7] was the Executive Director of the New York-based National Coalition for Haitian Rights[8] from 1988 to 2006[9] and is credited as translator on her album Vari-Colored Songs.[10] Her mother Régine Dupuy arrived in the United States at age 5, and is the daughter of Ben Dupuy who ran Haïti Progrès, a New York-based Haitian socialist newspaper. McCalla's mother went on to found Dwa Fanm, an anti-domestic violence human rights organization. McCalla's younger sister, Sabine McCalla, is also a musician in New Orleans.[11] [12]

McCalla was born in Queens, New York City, and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey,[13] where she attended Columbia High School.[14] She lived in Accra, Ghana for two years as a teen. After a year at Smith College, she transferred to New York University to study cello performance and chamber music. In 2010 she then moved to New Orleans where she honed her craft playing music on the streets of the French Quarter. In addition to cello, she also plays banjo and guitar.

Career

From 2011 to 2013, McCalla was a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. As of 2019 she is a member of Our Native Daughters.

As of 2017, McCalla was touring with her New Orleans-based trio, which also included Québécois Daniel Tremblay on guitar, banjo, and iron triangle (ti fer); and Free Feral on vocals and guitar.[15]

In 2019–20, McCalla toured with her Leyla McCalla Quartet, which included New Orleans musicians Dave Hammer (electric guitar), Shawn Myers (drums/percussion), and Pete Olynciw (electric and acoustic bass).[16] [17]

First album

McCalla's critically acclaimed album Vari-Colored Songs is a tribute to Langston Hughes, which included adaptations of his poems, Haitian folk songs sung in Haitian Creole, and original compositions.[18] McCalla says the first song she wrote for the album was "Heart of Gold" because it provided "a window into Hughes' thinking".[19] McCalla chose to dedicate this work to Hughes because she says "reading his work made me want to be an artist." McCalla started working on the album 5 years prior to its release. Commentators have noted the influence of Louisiana musical traditions such as old Cajun fiddle melodies and trad-jazz banjo on the album. Members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops appear on the album. The album was financed at least in part through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter which exceeded its goal of $5,000 to raise $20,000.

Personal life

McCalla lives in the New Orleans area and has three children.[15] [20] [21]

Discography

Collaborations

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Heart of Gold Work ID No. 886049205 Leyla Sarah McCalla IPI No. 715028763 . . American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers . American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers . January 1, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130306032310/https://www.ascap.com/Home/ace-title-search/index.aspx . March 6, 2013 . Heart of Gold Work ID No. 886049205 Leyla Sarah McCalla IPI No. 715028763
  2. Web site: October 3rd is my birthday!. Leyla McCalla (leylamccallamusic). Facebook. January 1, 2015. September 11, 2015.
  3. Web site: my 30th BIRTHDAY!!. Leyla McCalla (leylamccallamusic). Facebook. January 1, 2015. September 3, 2015.
  4. Web site: Tassell. Nige. Cellist Leyla MacCalla: From Bach on the Street to Haitian Folk Jazz. The Guardian. September 26, 2013 . March 14, 2015.
  5. News: Fensterstock. Alison. Leyla McCalla's tribute to Langston Hughes, out this week, plus more New Orleans albums to look forward to. March 16, 2015. Nola.com/The Times Picayune. February 5, 2014.
  6. News: Steinoff. Jessica. Isthmus. Carolina Chocolate Drops give vintage string-band music a very bright future. March 17, 2015. September 23, 2014.
  7. Web site: Leyla McCalla at the BRIC. Loumacfotos. March 16, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402193218/http://www.loumacfotos.com/Events/Leyla-McCalla-at-the-BRIC-02/i-g4FX4Ww/A. April 2, 2015. dead.
  8. Web site: Dwyer. Andrea. A Conversation with Cellist and Singer Leyla McCalla. AfroPunk. April 6, 2015 . April 6, 2015.
  9. Web site: Jocelyn McCalla. LinkedIn. 2019-11-19.
  10. Web site: Vari-Colored Songs. Barnes & Noble. March 16, 2015.
  11. Web site: Gambit. Gambit's 2019 Music Issue: Sep 16, 2019 . September 16, 2019 . Hobbs, Holly. 2020-02-22.
  12. Web site: OffBeat. Power Players: Sabine McCalla Speaks From The Heart. June 27, 2018. Cugny, Noé. 2020-02-22.
  13. Rentner, Simon. "Cellist, Banjoist, and Singer-Songwriter Leyla McCalla Revisits Her Own Root System, on The Checkout", WBGO, December 4, 2017. Accessed January 15, 2020. "Leyla McCalla has traveled a winding path as a musician, from the European classical canon to the folkways of her Caribbean heritage. Born into a Haitian-American family in Queens, she was raised in Maplewood, and brought up in the New Jersey public school system."
  14. Web site: About. Leyla McCalla. March 16, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134252/http://leylamccalla.com/about/. April 2, 2015.
  15. Web site: Leyla McCalla thriving in life after the Chocolate Drops . . Gilbert, Andrew . September 22, 2017. 2019-11-19.
  16. Web site: Leyla McCalla: Cool Under Pressure . . Gilbert, Andrew . February 12, 2019 . 2019-11-19.
  17. Web site: Leyla McCalla: Shows . Leyla McCalla . 2019 . 2019-11-19 . May 12, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200512085147/https://leylamccalla.com/shows/ . dead .
  18. Web site: Orr. Dacey. Album Stream: Leyla McCalla – Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes. Paste. March 14, 2015. April 2, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402160859/http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2014/01/album-stream-leyla-mccalla---vari-colored-songs-a.html. dead.
  19. Web site: Ruehl. Kim. Folk Alley Presents: Leyla McCalla. NPR. March 14, 2015.
  20. Web site: Leyla McCalla Facebook Page. Facebook. 2015-03-17.
  21. Web site: Leyla McCalla Facebook Page. Facebook. 2019-11-15.

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