Upaya

In his early years, Don-Ray entered into the mayhem of the music industry with an excellent artistic production team named Maxelle. This dynamic duo of Don-Ray and Natacha Labelle (Stach) emerged from the Toronto urban music scene with a unique sound that was later released in HMV stores as a CD and went on to become one of the highest selling independent releases in 2000. This soon led to a nomination for a Canadian Urban Music Award for Best New Electronic Act in 2001. Other productions included a remix for Esthero (Sony), a single for Gerald Boulanger (Nice & Smooth), and engineering for Wade O. Brown (FACTOR), Don-Ray then set his sights on increasing Canadian representation south of the border by producing “The Blue E.P.” for the independent label Guidance Records (Chicago). Overseas production included a single on the “Jungle Strut” compilation from U’jammn (Italy), and Moonstarr’s remix of Maxelle’s “The French Connection” on Musica Alternitiva (Portugal). Production in Canada continued with releases on Public Transit Recordings’ (Toronto) “Code 416” and “Blue Night Network” compilations. He also remixed Fertile Ground’s “Come 2 Me” for the “Sounds of Baltimore” E.P. from Gotsoul Records (Montreal). In 2005, Don-Ray released his first full length CD entitled “Upaya” featuring Lady Alma (4Hero, King Britt) and Navasha Daya (Fertile Ground). It received the title of being one the Best of 2005 in the album category of Freefall Radio Station’s annual music awards. History Don-Ray (a.k.a. Don-Ray, X-Ray, Maxelle, and 21Green): Don-Ray is a producer, programmer, engineer and keyboardist. Throughout his childhood, Don-Ray grew up with influential parentage that shaped his love for music in all forms. His father was a record collector and his mother was a self-proclaimed eccentric starting her own record label Metro Sounds in the early 80’s, producing break-dance competitions with acts such as the Rock Steady Crew out of New York City, and organizing concerts with legends like Dennis Brown. After going to audio engineering school in 1993 Don-Ray was lucky enough to work with talents such as producer Daniel Lanois who has produced albums for U2 and Peter Gabriel.