For Leyla McCalla's 17th birthday, her father gave her a book of Langston Hughes' poetry. McCalla, a multi-instrumentalist and classically trained cellist, bought anthologies of his work and read any ...

Born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, Leyla McCalla possesses a stunning mastery of the cello, tenor banjo and guitar and, as a multilingual singer and songwriter, has risen to ...

Lakou Mizik are a multi-generational Haitian collective that combine traditional Haitian styles like vodou, Rara, and compro with world music adventurousness. The band formed in the wake of the ...

Leyla McCalla, erstwhile Carolina Chocolate Drop and occasional Our Native Daughter, is on a search: “I am trying to be free … I’m trying to find me,” she sings at the start of this album’s first song ...

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click. Enveloped in indigo and embarking on a journey of self-discovery, Leyla McCalla ...

"How much does a memory weigh?" Leyla McCalla sings halfway through her Tiny Desk performance in a voice that feels like it's floating in water – swimming, drowning, escaping, returning home – as it ...

When Leyla McCalla was commissioned by Duke University to delve into its archive of Radio Haiti broadcasts, the idea was for the classical/folk musician and singer/songwriter to co-create a ...

Leyla McCalla’s third solo release The Capitalist Blues is remarkable in terms of ambition, scale, and realization. Whereas her first efforts focused on her solo work and small cello ensembles, The ...

Spoleto Festival USA has announced the addition of Leyla McCalla to the opening night's lineup after an overseas performer originally set to play ran into visa timing issues. Ebony Bones, a British ...

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. It's evident how cathartic “Sun Without the Heat” is for Leyla McCalla. The world music recording artist ...

After a visa timing issue that canceled British performer Ebony Bones' Spoleto show, Haitian-American folk musician Leyla McCalla of all-Black women banjo group Our Native Daughters and formerly of ...

After a pair of albums on which New York-born Leyla McCalla accompanied herself on her trademark instrument, the cello, "The Capitalist Blues" finds her on the tenor banjo and electric guitar, ...