Yarbrough was born and raised in L.A., where her father Martin Yarbrough (a singer, guitarist and songwriter) encouraged her interest in music and exposed her to jazz and R&B at an early age. After high school, Yarbrough attended the University of Southern California (USC) and obtained a BA from the Thornton School of Music. One of her teachers at USC was acoustic pianist Shelly Berg (who served as president of the International Association of Jazz Educators from 1996-1998), and she also studied with acoustic bassist John Clayton (of Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra fame) during her USC days. In 2004, Yarbrough self-released her debut album, Raya's Mood, and in 2006, she recorded a self-titled album that @Telarc released in early 2008; that disc was produced by guitarist Steve Bartek, who is best known for his contributions to the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the '70s and '80s. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi