By the
time an artist discovers their own voice, they've inevitably been shaped by
countless influences. On her debut album, Ode To Heroes, vocalist Thana Alexa
pays tribute to the personalities both personal and musical who have impacted
her on the path to forging her own distinctively individual voice. It's a
telling list that encompasses her own family; jazz giants like Wayne Shorter,
Charles Mingus, and Paul Desmond; and the stellar musicians who collaborate
with her on the album, including drummer and co-producer Antonio Sanchez,
saxophonists Donny McCaslin and Lenart Krecic, bassists Jorge Roeder and Scott
Colley, pianist Sergio Salvatore and vibraphonist Christos Rafalides.
The
release of Ode To Heroes, due out March 10 via Harmonia Mundi/Jazz Village,
marks the arrival of a rising star on the modern vocal jazz scene. The album
mainly features her engaging original compositions, along with vibrant takes on
jazz standards like Shorter's "Footprints," Mingus' "Goodbye
Pork Pie Hat," and Desmond and Dave Brubeck's "Take 5." Most
importantly, it spotlights Alexa's ability to engage in rewarding and
illuminating conversation with some of the music's most renowned and
forward-thinking players.
Ode To
Heroes' title track opens the album with sudden staccato stabs, and it may take
listeners a few moments to realize that there's a voice alongside the sax and
drums. It's a fitting introduction for a singer who sees herself as a part of
the band, more interested in mixing it up and improvising with her sidemen than
standing alone at the front of the stage. Alexa honed that approach while a
student at the New School, where she embraced the challenge of breaking down
jazz's entrenched borders.
"This
divide between vocalists and instrumentalists was very much a problem for
me," Alexa says. "Whether it was through the curriculum or just
through the psychology of the musicians, vocalists were oftentimes separated
and classed as something different. And I was not cool with that. I ended up
putting myself in really uncomfortable situations, becoming the very first
vocalist in a lot of ensembles. I really wanted to take myself out of my
comfort zone and learn through trial and error."
Though
she was born in New York City, Alexa was raised in Croatia, so her path was
never going to be the expected one. She first encountered jazz at an outdoor
café in Dubrovnik. The owner was a bassist who encouraged her to join his band
onstage when he spotted her mouthing the lyrics in the audience. "He
yelled to me from the stage in broken English and my mom pushed me up
there," she recalls. "I must have looked like a tree just standing
there; it was my first time ever singing in front of people."
The
experience ignited a passion for jazz and soon Alexa was taking voice lessons
at the Rock Academy of Zagreb. A few years later vibraphonist and club owner
Bosko Petrovic took the young singer under his wing, producing a demo and
urging her to discover her own voice. She returned to the States at the age of
18 to attend Northeastern University, majoring in psychology because she still
saw jazz as a hobby. "I had the darkest year of my life," she says.
"It was only during a jazz course I had once a week that something would
light up inside of me when I had my five minutes to sing. The message was clear
that a life change had to be made, so I moved to New York City and enrolled at
the New School where I received a B.F.A in jazz performance and also finished
my B.A. in psychology."
Alexa
looks back at that time on "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (listed as
"The Wanderer" on the track list), which was one of the songs she
studied in class that inspired her to pursue music. Her lyrics for the Mingus
classic as well as Shorter's "Footprints" both explore her journey of
self-discovery as a musician. The
results are evident on Ode To Heroes, where the personal and the aesthetic
merge throughout. "When Evening Comes" begins with an intense
wordless vocal solo, building to the tune's hypnotic groove. "In a
Mode" was inspired by Herbie Hancock, while the title track was written
with Antonio Sanchez and Donny McCaslin's virtuosic musicality in mind.
On the
aching and delicate "Ghost Hawk," Alexa pens a love letter to her
brother, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2010. "The song is
supposed to be hopeful," she says. "It's supposed to send the message
that you should live life to the fullest and not be scared of who you love, how
you love, or that you love. That's the way that my brother lived, and he was my
main inspiration for this record. He was a larger than life kind of guy - his
energy permeated through my whole writing process. It became my way to keep him
living, even though he was no longer around physically."
Closing
tunes "M's Lullaby" and "You Are Not Alone" are dedicated
to Alexa's mother, who was ailing at the time that she wrote them. "I live
very far away from my parents, who are in Croatia. So I wanted to express to my
mother through music that no matter where I am, I'm always there for her, and
allow her to find her own strength in knowing that I love her."
Alexa
met Antonio Sanchez when she saw him unexpectedly playing at Carnegie Hall with
Oliver Dragojevic, one of Croatia's biggest pop stars. She references their
relationship on two pieces from Ode To Heroes: "Siena," named for the
destination where the couple took their first trip together (and where the song
was written) and "Groove Tune," which talks about their first
encounter over coffee and which provides the band an opportunity to loosen up
and stretch out.
Since
dedicating herself to music, Alexa has performed and recorded with Antonio
Sanchez on his album New Life and his upcoming album The Meridian Suite -
performances have included Red Sea Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival -
with legendary drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie and two albums with
guitarist Gene Ess. She won the 2011 Jazzon Alpe-Andria International
Competition for "Ode To Heroes," while "Siena" was
nominated for a Best Jazz Composition award by PORIN, the Croatian Music
Academy, an honor equivalent to the Grammy Awards in America. For the last two
years she's been in residency at Greenwich Village's 55 Bar.
Upcoming
Thana Alexa Performances
March 14
/ The Side Door / Old Lyme, CT
** March
23 / SubCulture / New York, NY
** w/
special guests Antonio Sanchez and Donny McCaslin
Thana
Alexa · Ode To Heroes
Jazz
Village · Release Date: March 10, 2015
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