Maia & the Big Sky
Country Kenya Genres fusion Website www.maiavonlekow.com Facebook /maiavonlekow Festival Sauti za Busara 2010, 2018 Recordings 📼 Maia von Lekow (EP, 2008); Drift (Album, 2012); Maia & the Big Sky (Album, 2017)
Collaborations: Blinky Bill ft. Maia von Lekow, Don’t Doubt (2016); Afriquoi ft. Maia von Lekow, Shika Kamba (2016)
Maia & The Big Sky experiment with coastal polyrhythms, mixing these with funk, reggae, jazz and folk, creating a familiarity and warmth that transcends continents. Maia von Lekow’s lyrics in both English and Kiswahili touch on power, love, politics and the strength of women.
Maia has shared stages with artists such as Keziah Jones (Nigeria), James Blunt (UK), Habib Koite (Mali), Thandiswa & Mafikizolo (South Africa). Her hypnotic velvet vocals and highly-engaging live act has travelled all over the world, highlighting the diversity of Kenyan music.
Recordings include 2008's self-titled EP featuring “Oyster” which appeared on Warner Poland's Ladies' Jazz Album Vol 6, and “Uko Wapi” which earned her two African Academy Awards for best sound track. Her debut album Drift, released in 2012 featured the highly-acclaimed single “Jellyfish”.
The new album’s first single 'Lola' includes a stop-motion music video and has received radio airplay across the world. The next video single 'Pawa' featuring Blinky Bill will shortly be unveiled.
Maia has toured in USA, UK, Australia and East Africa. Festival performances included Africa Utopia (UK), HIFA (Zimbabwe), Sauti za Busara (Zanzibar), Blankets & Wine (Kenya), Visa for Music (Morocco), Woodford Folk Festival and Perth International Arts Festival (Australia).
"Maia’s tunes bring a new sense of 'chill' to the African music scene" – OkayAfrica
Algeria Angola Australia Austria Benin Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Comoros Congo Côte d'Ivoire Denmark DRC Egypt eSwatini Ethiopia Far East Finland France Gambia Germany Ghana Guinea Guinea Bissau Iraq Japan Kenya Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Morocco Mozambique Namibia Netherlands Nigeria Norway Pan Africa Pemba Puerto Rico Reunion Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Somaliland South Africa Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Tanzania Uganda UK USA Various Yemen Zambia Zanzibar Zimbabwe
acoustic acrobats afrobeat band blues bongo flava coastal comedy dance dj electro fusion hiphop jazz kidumbak pop reggae rock roots rumba spiritual spoken word taarab traditional urban zenji flava