Meet our returning Artist of the Week, jazz sensation Thana Alexa, who will be starring in our Women of Jazz concert on February 23 at Birdland Jazz Club!
We recently spoke to Thana about her love of jazz music and the important role of the women who had a part in its history.
MT: When did you first start to sing? Was jazz music your first love?
Thana: I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. When I was 3 years old, I got lost at a birthday party and my parents found me in the basement of this kid’s house playing on a small keyboard trying to sing nursery rhymes I had been hearing at home. My mother recognized that this was a special moment and brought me to the local conservatory the following week to start me with piano lessons. The minute we got to the first meeting with the dean of the school I blurted out that I didn’t want to play the piano, but wanted to play the violin (my mom didn’t even know that I knew what a violin WAS at that point)! They set me up with a violin teacher and that was my first musical love… classical music and playing the violin. My father was always a lover of jazz, blues, soul, Motown, so I grew up listening to whatever he listened to. I didn’t start singing in that style until I was in my early teens, but once I started, I was hooked for life!
MT: Who are some of your favorite songwriters to sing or listen to?
Thana: I love listening to so many different kinds of music and I go through musical phases, not only as a composer, but as a listener. There are a few songwriters/ bands that I can always listen to, no matter what, though… Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, Beck, Pat Metheny, the list goes on!
MT: Tell us about the Women of Jazz program. What does it mean to you to play jazz standards that were written by women in a male-dominated field?
Thana: This is a program that I hold very near and dear to my heart. From conception to completion of the fully formed program (and all the variations that came later) I have learned more about the history of women in the jazz genre than I ever did before. I have read so many stories about the struggles that women faced just to get their music PLAYED by other musicians (which doesn’t include being heard on the radio or published… that was a whole other can of worms). These women were fierce players, composers, and visionaries in their own right and what they contributed to jazz was more than just music. They gave us a different perspective… a different musical experience. It is an honor to be able to bring their music to life with this stellar band of women at Birdland on February 23!
MT: Who are some of the artists that inspire you?
Thana: Mary Lou Williams, Alice Coltrane, Nina Simone, Dorothy Fields, Becca Stevens, Meshell Ndegocello, Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett
MT: Tell us something not many people know about you.
Thana: I’m allergic to almost all jewelry that isn’t real (unfortunately!!) haha
MT: What is your biggest musical challenge?
Thana: Accepting my voice on any given day, because as a singer I have the ONLY instrument that exists WITHIN the body. This means I constantly have to be aware of myself, my body, my stress level, my emotions, my surroundings and how all of that affects the notes that I sing and the WAY that I sing them. I can’t observe the inner workings of my instrument in the same way that any instrumentalist can observe themselves from the outside, because what I sing can’t be seen, only felt and heard.
