Kalya Ramu

Kalya Ramu is a vocalist, composer and visual artist from Toronto, ON. Ramu has a passion for storytelling and reinventing old jazz music. She fills her repertoire with rarely recorded songs with beautiful melodies and humorous antidotes. Ramu began her singing career at the age of 12, singing at jazz jams and performing with big bands. At 22 she graduated with honors from the Humber College Bachelor of Music Degree Program. Three years later Ramu began writing original Jazz compositions, and on May 10th 2019 she released her debut full-length album Living in a Dream, which included four of her original songs and seven jazz standards. Following this release, one of her original songs was featured on the soundtrack of CBC show Frankie Drake Mysteries.

Ramu’s latest work, Duo (due April 2, 2021), is a short album of all original material performed by piano and voice. All tracks were cowritten with and feature pianist Ewen Farncombe. Ramu brought lyrics and melodies to Farncombe and together they curated the harmony. Duo explores love in its many forms, whether it be towards a partner, a musical genre, a fleeting feeling, or one’s life choices. Kalya’s storytelling jumps between sweet and cynical, never dwelling on the serious. Influenced by the musical stylings of the 1930’s to ‘50’s, Ramu’s dynamic singing accompanied by Farncombe’s emotive playing evokes nostalgia for a past era.

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"Canadian singer Kalya Ramu displays her beautiful voice on her new CD, Duo. Ably accompanied by talented pianist Ewen Farncombe, Ramu breezes through five well crafted jazz flavored originals that show off her lyrical brilliance, pitch control and command of dynamics." - Brian M. Owens, Metronome Magazine

"The muffled voice of Billie Holiday, the sensuality of Rita Hayworth and the playfulness of Doris Day." – Georges Tonla Briquet, Jazz Halo

"There are so many extraordinary aspects of Miss Ramu. Her maturity as an artist, belied by her young years is perhaps the most astounding of all. The fact that the breathtaking repertoire on this short EP is all original work is another welcome surprise." - Raul Da Gama, JazzDaGama