Leyla McCalla at Bowker Auditorium

About

Leyla McCalla began her career as a street musician playing Bach on her cello in New Orleans, landing her a touring gig with the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Now she has developed her own sound, accompanied by her roots-influenced band, drawing on her heritage as a Haitian-American, and singing in French, Haitian Creole, and English. Her arrangements of traditional songs are earthy, elegant, soulful, and witty, vibrating with three centuries of history, yet strikingly fresh, distinctive, and new.