MICHAEL MAYO *live

In the organizer's words:

Michael Mayo is a composer, arranger and, above all, a virtuoso jazz singer. In his work, he relies entirely on his intuition. With his voice, he shapes his interpretations in the moment - be it harmonizing, beatboxing or deep crooning - transmitting primal emotions over a constantly evolving background of jazz, neo-soul and R&B.

The winner of the German Jazz Award in the "International Artist of the Year" category (2022) already shone with his debut album "Bones" (2021) and released a follow-up last year with "Fly". On it, he dives deep into the genre of jazz and lets his earlier collaboration with his mentor Herbie Hancock, producer Eli Wolf and the band Scary Pockets blossom in a mixture of familiar interpretations of jazz classics and bold, adventurous original compositions. The album was recorded with an all-star band consisting of pianist Shai Maestro, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Nate Smith and once again underlines his exceptional jazz skills.

Michael Mayo was born into a musical family in Los Angeles. His mother shone as a sought-after backing singer alongside Beyoncé, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston. His father not only sang, but also played saxophone for Earth, Wind & Fire. One of his most formative memories is "being backstage, watching mom and dad perform and seeing them in their element". Michael Mayo attended the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and was only the third singer to be accepted into the 20-year-old program. There he learned from greats such as Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. He has performed with Herbie Hancock, Jacob Collier, Kneebody, Gretchen Parlato, Josh Groban, Ben Wendel and Becca Stevens.