IT HASN'T been easy tracking Maysa down. The plush-voiced jazzy soul stylist has been on the move -- flying to Japan one week or Italy the next, performing two shows a night in packed venues. For the past month or so, she's been on tour with her old band, Incognito, the London-based acid jazz unit masterminded by the great Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick.
The Pikesville-based artist sings on the group's latest album, the luminous Adventures in Black Sunshine. In addition to that tour, Maysa has several other things popping off. She's the national spokeswoman for the March of Dimes for Premature Births, helping to raise awareness of respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, an infection that mostly affects babies. An endorsement deal with Ashley Stewart, the women's clothing store chain, is in the works; and there's her new album, the brilliant Smooth Sailing.
After missing each other for about two weeks, the Baltimore-born-and-raised performer and I finally hook up. She calls me at home on a chilly, rainy Friday evening.
"This last month has been insane," Maysa says. "But the Incognito tour has been fun. There was no diva crap going on. Everybody liked each other. There were, like, 11 of us, playing and singing every night."
With the hectic Incognito tour and the charity work, the singer has had little time to promote Smooth Sailing, her fourth album, the best one to date. It's also the only record for which she received executive producer credit -- though she had done such duties on her other three albums. Selecting the songs, sequencing the songs, picking the cover art -- Maysa handled all of that.
"This is my most personal album," says the 38-year-old, whose speaking voice is as mellow and velvety as her crooning. "It's more R&B than anything I've done. Spiritually, I've never been happier with a record -- I guess because I had complete creative control of it."
Smooth Sailing is good company, one of those CDs you slip on after work to melt away the day. But the engaging set never feels like mindless mood music. Fluidly organic, refreshingly focused, the album centers on matters of the heart: love that left yesterday ("All Day Long" and "One More Chance"), love that's here to stay ("Hypnotic Love") and love for the universe ("It's Time for Love"). Grammy-nominated producer Rex Rideout helped Maysa maintain the flow, and her pal Bluey contributed the standout track "Soul Child."
