One of the great, contemporary singing sensations of our time, known from recordings with Snarky Puppy and Moby and a host of other stars, Shayna Steele takes flight on her third album, “Watch Me Fly.” Offering six self-penned originals and four select classics ranging from Soul via Blues and Gospel and easily crossing over to retro R&B and Jazz, showcasing Shayna Steele’s supremely soulful energy, as well as her mind blowing vocal artistry and songwriting skills.
“In one performance, California-born, New York-based vocalist Shayna Steele unleashed enough voltage to light up the West End.”
She’s backed Moby, Bette Midler and Kelly Clarkson, performed on Broadway, toured with Rihanna, recorded an EP and a full-length disc under her own steam and been hailed as an “R&B diva.” As she’s carved this circuitous path, Shayna Steele has also acquired significant jazz cred, touring as a featured vocalist with Grammy Award winning trumpeter, Chris Botti, and working alongside the likes of Dave Douglas and Snarky Puppy, who included her catchy “Gone Under” on their Family Dinner, Volume 1.
The singer, born in California and raised in Mississippi, who as a self-proclaimed “American Air Force brat” grew up all over the world, but lives and thrives in New York, not only has a charismatic, charming and truly unique voice, but also plenty of technique and the vocal strength of a volcano.
“She can be slyly sexy, bouncily ebullient, gloriously self-possessed and ferociously penitent.”
“I grew up all over the world”, Shayna explains in her liner notes. “It was hard to call any place home for most of my life… but it was my time in Biloxi that really shaped me into the person I am. I struggled with the lack of access to different cultures, but I found the silver lining through music and performance. I was a bit of an outcast, coming from a bi-racial family, living in Mississippi, where the races pretty much segregated themselves… I didn’t belong. But when I go home to visit, the community is so welcoming and proud of my accomplishments.
“Steele’s theatricality peeks through in almost every song. Shayna shines in every corner.”
Schooled in Jazz by her Godfather, self-taught and guided by her musician father and educated in Gospel by her choir director, the Grammy-nominated Michael McElroy, Shayna Steele dove headfirst into music in her teens, entering (and winning) several pageants and talent shows, including an appearance on Ed McMahon's Star Search at the tender age of 15 (she came in 2nd by a 1/2 star). "I never really felt 'grounded' until I moved to NYC”, she says. “It was then that I really opened up to different genres of music." Shayna began to develop her sound, blending new influences, from Ledisi to Rachelle Farrell, with her childhood icons Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and the Temptations.