Jenny Maybee is a nationally-charting pianist, vocalist, and composer/arranger who “make(s) beautiful music expressing the sheer joy of being alive.” Her “eloquent and heart stopping” piano playing and vocals have been hailed as “expertly balanced,” with her voice described as “exquisite” and “in the same league” as Billie Holiday, and her piano stylings compared to Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, and Cecil Taylor.
In 2020, Jenny released the EP Synthesis No. 1, a collection of lush compositions featuring piano, strings, and woodwinds; 5 alternative rock singles, and a full-length jazz piano album, Wanderings. Jenny’s 2019 release, Love Letters from the Garden, is a book of art and poetry accompanied by a full album of music inspired by her time as a Creative Resident at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island (Washington). In 2016, Jenny released HAIKU (with Nick Phillips), which she co-produced and arranged. HAIKU was lauded in the press as "a thrilling, intimate, very delicate dialogue...close to perfection," and Jenny’s composition “Winter Butterflies” was selected as one of the Top 10 New Songs of 2016. Jenny’s playing can also be found on ten other albums, including the 2016 film soundtrack “Curious Worlds: The Art & Imagination of David Beck.”
Jenny is a member of The Recording Academy, has been a presenter for the Jazz Education Network, an adjudicator for West Coast Songwriters, and has over a decade of experience teaching voice and piano and coaching individuals and ensembles. In addition, she is an experienced attorney and mediator who has represented national and international leaders in technology and business.
PRESS MENTIONS
Jenny's composition "Winter Butterflies” from Haiku was selected as one of the Top 10 Best New Songs for 2016 by veteran jazz writer, Ken Franckling, along with compositions by Jim Clayton, Marc Copland, Lisa Hilton, Grace Kelly, Roberto Magris, Gregory Porter, Steve Slagle, Ernie Watts & Marc Seales, & Matt Wilson . Read the article here...
INTERVIEWS
Interview with Jazz Da Gama about the Haiku project and the creative process. Read full interview...
Feature in Keyboard Magazine, read article here...
Interview with The Audio Beatnik about the album Haiku. Read full interview…
Reviews for "HAIKU"
Haiku is "an 11-track rarity of pristine playing, beautiful vocals and original compositions...Billie Holiday and Chet Baker, to name but two, are jazz legends whose music you could close your eyes to and nod out blissfully in a deep groove without actually having to use heroin (as they did). Haiku is in the same league....The confluence of these originals, the languid Phillips style, the poly-rhythmic pianists of Maybee, and the totally organic groove, makes one what to, yeah, just nod out in an appreciative swoon.” -- Mike Greenblatt, Classicalite. Read full review...
"Much like the poetry from which it takes its name, there's a minimalist gravity to Haiku...The album specializes in moments of fragile tension, with forlorn trumpet whispers and delicately rendered vocal runs...A lush sonic landscape that captures the music's nuance while allowing for ample acoustic space." -- Brian Zimmerman, DownBeat. Read full review...
"...a thrilling, intimate, very delicate dialogue...close to perfection." -- Leonid Auskern, Jazz Quad. Read full review...
“...eloquent and heart-stopping...an otherworldly simpatico...there is a superb and almost balletic dancing that takes place. It’s as if the music melts into dance and this results in a dizzying and beautiful interplay that is riveting...among the most sincere and poised accounts of song that a duo have produced in a long time.” — Raul Da Gama, Jazz Da Gama. Read full review...
"[Nick Phillips'] albums as a trumpeter show that he is a thoughtful improviser with a unique approach to creative music...What makes this album [Haiku] different is his collaborator, Jenny Maybee, who is equally talented as a vocalist and pianist. Maybee sings on seven of the album’s eleven tracks, and her unique style seems fairly sedate on the surface, but is capable of sudden intensity whenever the music demands. These qualities make Maybee a great partner for Phillips, whose moody trumpet improvisations frequently take unexpected turns...[Haiku's] understated mix of vocals and instrumentals should appeal to jazz fans of both genres." -- Thomas Cunniffe, Jazz History Online. Read full review...
HAIKU “wouldn’t be totally out of place on an ECM record, as thoughtfully curious piano, full-bodied bass, and warm-toned trumpet embrace the art of unhurried exploration.” Overall, Haiku is “an album that values heart over head and beauty over brawn, pointing to the fact that Nick Phillips has found an artistic soul mate in Jenny Maybee.” -- Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz. Read full review...
The album is "loaded with art while avoiding pretentiousness. The kind of set you want to listen to late at night when you aren't in a melancholy mood, it certainly brings a new kind of special sauce to the proceedings. Intimate in a 50s kind of old school way where there's just three players kicking it out in real time, the target audience for this set will really take it to heart." -- Chris Spector, Midwest Record. Read full review...