Leyla McCalla

Leyla McCalla

Leyla McCalla is a Haitian-American folk musician who is associated with classical, folk, jazz, blues and folk rock. She is from Queens, United States, and was born in 1985 in New York City as Leyla Sarah McCalla.

Background and instruments

McCalla sings in French, Haitian Creole and English, and plays cello, tenor banjo and guitar. She is influenced by traditional Creole, Cajun and Haitian music, along with American jazz and folk. She is raised in suburban New Jersey, with part of her teenage years spent in Accra, Ghana.

Carolina Chocolate Drops and other work

She performs as a cellist with the Grammy-winning string band Carolina Chocolate Drops and later leaves to focus on her solo career. She also appears on the group’s GRAMMY-nominated album Leaving Eden and tours extensively with the band. McCalla is also a member of Our Native Daughters.

Solo recordings

Her debut solo album, Vari-Colored Songs, is named Album of the Year by the London Sunday Times and Songlines. The track “Heart of Gold” is featured on NPR, which notes the song’s instrumentation as having a lonesome nighttime quality. Her second album, A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey, is released by Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi and includes songs in English, French and Haitian Creole.

The album features guest appearances by Marc Ribot, Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and New Orleans singer-songwriter and guitarist Sarah Quintana. Her later albums include Capitalist Blues, released on Jazz Village/PIAS, and Breaking The Thermometer, released on ANTI-.

Haitian heritage and influences

McCalla renews her connection with her Haitian heritage after moving to New Orleans in 2010. Her second album title is taken from a Haitian proverb that also gives its name to Gage Averill’s 1997 book about popular music and politics in Haiti.