Saya Gray tears it up in KCRW’s Annenberg Performance Studio.
Saya Gray tears it up in KCRW’s Annenberg Performance Studio.
Video directed by Kylie Hazzard. Photos by Sarah Shen

Saya Gray: KCRW Live from HQ

Intimate performances, fresh sounds, and candid conversations with a view.

Written by Marion Hodges

Toronto-native Saya Gray began playing piano in early childhood and eventually gravitated towards the bass as a tween. She was a professional session musician by the time she was a teenager, and by age 18 she was teaching and performing regularly with the Quincy Bullen Band. She comes by her teaching and session work naturally as her mom, Madoka Murata, is the founder of Discovery Through the Arts — one of Toronto’s largest independent music schools — and her dad, Charlie Gray, is an accomplished trumpeter who’s played with heavy-hitters like Aretha Franklin, Harry Connick Jr., and Tony Bennett.

Gray quickly carved her own sonic path in her 20s, touring as a bassist for Daniel Caesar, Liam Payne, and WILLOW. Though she’s released many songs together as part of a collection in the past (see: 2022’s 19 MASTERS), she considers the freshly released SAYA to be her debut album. Inspired by a post-breakup road trip through Japan and California, the LP’s 10 tracks boast pristine pop production, jazz-chords, country twang, and clear-as-a-bell vocal tones from Gray and her chorale. It’s an auditory grab bag of ceaseless satisfactions.



Watch her do it all live by jumping right into the video at the top of this page. Gray (vocals, guitar, bass, etc.), Claire Uchima (backing vocals, keys), Alex Ernewein (piano), Marito Marques (drums), and John Mavro (guitar) come through KCRW’s Annenberg Performance Studio with selections from the new eponymous album including “SHELL ( OF A MAN )” and “…THUS IS WHY ( I DON’T SPRING 4 LOVE ).” Plus, they hit us with the back catalog stunner “IF THERE’S NO SEAT IN THE SKY (WILL YOU FORGIVE ME???).”

And in the interview below, Gray catches up with Morning Becomes Eclectic host Novena Carmel about musical intentionality, filling the bulk of her days with petting cats and rollerblading, and the best Aretha Franklin anecdote that she heard as a kid.

Explore more KCRW Live From sessions






Credits:
KCRW Music Director: Alejandro Cohen
Interviewer: Novena Carmel
Director/Director of Photography/ Editor: Kylie Hazzard
Camera operators: Rachel Bickert, Milana Burdette, Kylie Hazzard
KCRW Recording / Mix Engineer: Hope Brush
Assistant Engineers: Katie Gilchrest and Chandler Martin
Executive Producer: Ariana Morgenstern
Senior Producer: Anna Chang
Event Producer: Liv Surnow
Digital Producer: Marion Hodges
Digital Editorial Manager: Andrea Domanick
Social Video Editor: Tohar Zamir
Lighting Design: Jason Groman
Art Director: Evan Solano

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