Credit: Lauren Desberg
Sept. 10, 2024 – Today, Los Angeles-based vocalist, composer and songwriter Michael Mayo has shared “Bag of Bones”, the contemplative and striking new single from his upcoming album Fly, out October 4 via Mack Avenue Records / Artistry Music. Over shimmering jazz production that ebbs and flows, “Bag of Bones” finds Mayo exploring the concept of life and death, and the spiritual connection between our souls and bodies.
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Mayo on the new single: “‘Bag of Bones’ is a song about the journey that a soul and body take together. The central idea being that a tethered mind ‘animates’ the body. I wrote this song in grad school when I was considering a lot of questions about life and death. I wanted to create a feeling of simultaneous joy and melancholy to reflect hope and loss that can exist in life and death. At the end of the song, we have that ‘heartbeat’ pattern in the kick drum which represents a well-deserved sendoff into whatever the great beyond is.”“Bag of Bones” follows the buoyant “Four,” an homage to Miles Davis that arrived with a stunning performance video.
On his upcoming album Fly, Mayo creates from the heart without filter or pretense, allowing his voice to transmit raw emotion above an ever-evolving backdrop of jazz, neo-soul and R&B. Self-produced and recorded over two days at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, Fly finds Mayo stretching his voice through layers of heavenly harmonizing, hard-hitting beatboxing and heartfelt crooning. This time around, he’s recruited pianist Shai Maestro, Linda May Han Oh on upright and electric bass and in-demand drummer extraordinaire Nate Smith. Together, the musicians harnessed their incredible chemistry, giving the music gravity, muscle and soul anchored by their performances.
Fly is the follow-up to Mayo’s 2021 breakthrough full-length debut Bones, which garnered millions of streams and praise from press including Jazzwise who rated it “4-stars,” while JAZZIZ Magazine raved, “Michael Mayo has developed his own lush, neo-soul sound.” Since then, he’s captivated audiences worldwide, headlining his own gigs while also touring with major acts like Herbie Hancock. In 2022, he earned the German Jazz Prize Award for International Artist of the Year.Born and raised in Los Angeles, music surrounded Mayo during his upbringing. As a sought-after background vocalist, his mom has worked with Beyoncé, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston. Meanwhile, his dad not only sang but also performed saxophone for Earth, Wind & Fire. Unlocking the power of his own voice, Mayo eventually attended the New England Conservatory of Music and The Thelonious Monk Institute at UCLA (now the Hancock Institute of Jazz).Now with Fly, Mayo has trusted his gut and delivered a definitive body of work. “There’s a clear difference in the way I felt recording this album,” he shares. “I have a better handle on who I am, how I feel, and what I have to say. I’m just trying to make as much music as I can with as many cool people as I can, travel the world, and bring a little bit of light along the way.”
Michael Mayo 2024 Tour Dates:
September 12 – New York, NY @ Joe’s Pub
September 13 – Westport, NY @ The Mill
September 14 – Lake George, NY @ Lake George Jazz Fest
September 15 – Marlboro, NY @ The Falcon
September 21 – Lake Los Angeles, CA @ The Central Avenue Jazz Festival
October 7 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Kuumbwa Jazz Center
October 18 + 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ South Jazz Kitchen
October 20 – Durham, NC @ Missy Lane’s Assembly Room
Fly Tracklist:
1. Bag of Bones
2. Just Friends
3. I Wish
4. Silence
5. Fly (feat. Scott Mayo and Valerie Pinkston)
6. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
7. Frenzy
8. It Could Happen To You
9. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
10. Four
11. Speak No Evil
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