Marya Lawrence

"Her voice is liquid, malleable and totally in sync with the music… Through all this Lawrence sounds alternatively coquettish, seductive and sometimes not quite human. Lawrence has a lot of talent and she shows much promise for the future".
-Jerome Wilson, Cadence
"Marya has impressively absorbed her lifelong lessons, evident in her horn-like phrasing and astute scatting… Marya shows all sides of her sweet, lusty, swinging style."
-Nancy Ann Lee, JazzTimes
“She’s beautiful! And not just beautiful, she’s talented! …it’s there right away as she sings ‘You’re My Thrill’ from a deep wellspring of the heart. …very refreshing, very original.”
-Michael Bourne, Singers Unlimited, WBGO-FM
“Marya really sings the hell out of standards, dynamite!”
- Chico Hamilton
"A breath of fresh air in a world of jazz music that could use a newcomer with an innovative approach. Every so often we put that new CD into our CD player having never heard of the artist, with the hopes that this will not be another typical try at stardom. This vocalist will not disappoint you... Her vocal approach is distinct and unrestricted."
- Christian DiGirolamo, Jazzine
Marya (rhymes with aria) Lawrence, born into a talented family of musicians, has taken that heritage into her own unique jazz vocal realm. From the time she was a very young child, her father, the late saxophone legend Arnie Lawrence, brought Marya to his gigs. There she absorbed the jazz vernacular from many jazz greats including her father.
When Marya was six years old she made her debut performance, as a modern ballet dancer, at St. Peter’s Church in New York City. Dad provided the jazz and Marya interpreted it in dance. Soon thereafter, she realized that her heart was in singing and gave up dancing. She learned a beautiful respect for the jazz genre at a very young age.
Marya was very musically versatile from the beginning of her musical journey. “I was always singing. I had a vocal solo in every concert ever given by my schools from kindergarten through high school. I dabbled in other things too. In elementary school I played the flute for a while and in high school I started playing percussion in the orchestra and bands. I also sang with various choruses and even a couple of shows. As long as I could be involved in the music, I was happy.”
Many subsequent performances in and around New York placed her onstage with some of the greatest living and late jazz artists, such as Jon Hendricks, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Cobb, and Bob Dorough. Marya’s strong improvisational chops began to develop early on, as well. “I always sat in with Dad at any gig that he thought was loose enough for a kid to do her thing. Mostly I would just scat. The first standard that I learned was ‘Summertime’, when I was ten. Dad wrote the lyrics for me on a napkin and pushed me onstage”. Marya began composing her own music around that same time. One of her earliest compositions, “Candles” was composed when she was eleven.
Marya studied at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, of which her father was the creator and co-founder. The eclectic nature of her vocal style is indicative of her wide range of experience and her open and experimental nature. Marya is a former member of reggae artist Winston Grennan’s “Ska Rocks Band”. She has even played percussion for the “Williamsburg, Virginia Symphony Orchestra,” when her father composed a jazz symphony, which featured Dizzy Gillespie. Marya has also performed with her father’s jazz quartet, his funk and blues band, "The International Co-Elation," and with Bob Dorough on “Schoolhouse Rock-’Live in Concert”.
In addition to appearing with her innovative group “Metamorphosis”, Marya has also sung with several New York based groups, including the fiercely talented vocal ensemble Urban A Cappella, Beatboxer Entertainment, X, Nu Voices, percussion phenom Leon Parker’s Life Ensemble, and The Istanbul Orchestra. She also has performed regularly with Harry Whitaker, pianist and arranger for Roberta Flack. Two of Marya’s biggest musical inspirations have been Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. While tinges of these influences can be heard on Marya’s stunning debut album, “All the Way Back,” she projects a highly infectious sound of her own. Most recently, Marya can be heard on legendary jazz drummer, Chico Hamilton's new CD, "Heritage." Marya's own new album, "Night Butterfly," will be released later this year. She currently has a hip-hop/neo-soul vocal group with Beatboxer Entertainment's Kid Lucky called "Beats and Butterflies" and is working on a few other projects of different genres and sizes.
Marya is a unique and enchanting performer who never fails to captivate her audience.