Leyla McCalla

The Davis Live Music Collective presents an evening with Leyla McCalla Born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, Haitian-American multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla finds inspiration from her past and present– her music vibrates with three centuries of history and influences from around the globe. McCalla possesses a stunning mastery of the cello, tenor banjo and guitar and, as a multilingual singer and songwriter, has risen to produce a distinctive sound that reflects the union of her roots and experience. In addition to her solo work, McCalla is a founding member of Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell) and alumna of Grammy award-winning Black string band The Carolina Chocolate Drops. McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites. McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.