Jenny Maybee

Jenny Maybee is “equally talented as a vocalist and pianist.” Her “piano playing and vocals…are altogether eloquent and heart-stopping…her voicing is expertly balanced…and her phrasing sings wonderfully throughout the repertoire.” Her vocals have been described as “exquisite,” “hauntingly beautiful,” and “in the same league” with Billie Holiday — music that “you could close your eyes to and nod out blissfully in a deep groove…” Her piano style has been compared to Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, and Cecil Taylor.

Jenny “make(s) beautiful music expressing the sheer joy of being alive. You sense it in the augmented chords that Maybee plays on her piano, then leaping like a mad gazelle to catch its essence with her voice.” As a classically trained jazz pianist and vocalist, Jenny’s “unique style seems fairly sedate on the surface, but is capable of sudden intensity whenever the music demands.”

This mixture of sensitivity and boldness weaves through her original compositions and interpretations of jazz standards. Drawing inspiration from her studies of the martial and healing arts and the vast sonic landscape of jazz and world music, her playing reflects her range of exploration, dancing from stunning open space and intricate use of silence to powerful rhythmic intensity.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Jenny leads a piano trio and is continually exploring new music landscapes. Active in the Bay Area jazz/improv scene since 2002, she has performed and recorded with Noertker’s Moxie (2002-2012), the Empty Chamber Ensemble, her own trio, and many other great Bay Area musicians.

HAIKU, Jenny’s nationally charting latest album, was released in January 2016. Jenny co-produced and arranged the album with veteran GRAMMY®-recognized jazz producer and trumpet player Nick Phillips (Karrin Allyson, Nnenna Freelon). HAIKU was lauded in the press as "a thrilling, intimate, very delicate dialogue...close to perfection," and Jenny’s composition “Winter Butterflies” was selected as one of the Top 10 New Songs of 2016.