M'Balia Singley

M’Balia Singley is a Philadelphia-based singer and songwriter who has performed all over the country in acapella groups, jazz outfits, and jingles. After graduating from Yale University with a major in history, she explored New York’s acid jazz scene, singing monthly at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café with Three Bean Stew. M’Balia later moved back to Philadelphia to raise her daughter, but she kept her foot in the music world, working in wedding bands and doing session work; most notably, she can be heard on pop sensation John Legend’s debut album as well as on international jazz phenom Orrin Evans jazz hybrid band, LuvPark. She regularly gigs around the Philadelphia area, performing at venues as varied as Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus, the Chestnut Hill Book Fair, and the inescapable coffeehouse circuit.