Alexa Weber Morales

 

Bio

The insider perspective on Latin America had its positives, though, helping Alexa land a job editing a Spanish-language magazine. When the company decided to launch a Brazilian edition, she taught herself Portuguese by memorizing singer Gal Costa 's repertoire. She honed her Portuguese during several trips to Brazil, where she was often mistaken for a Carioca, or Rio native. Subsequently she traveled to Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and Cuba.

It was in 1999, during class at Jazz Camp West taught by Wayne Wallace , that she began to understand that not only her singing voice but her songs were viable. “Wayne respected me as a musician and songwriter,” says Weber Morales. “He has wide-ranging interests and can approach a song melodically, or groove-wise, or as a lyric or a concept. I have a lot of words in my head and he has a lot of notes in his, so it works out well.”

A mother of two young boys, Alexa began preproduction on Vagabundeo while pregnant with her second child and maintained demanding recording and gigging schedules just weeks after giving birth. She once struggled with balancing art and commerce; now her priorities are motherhood and music. “I was laid off from my magazine job when I was pregnant in December 2005. Everyone wonders when to quit their day job. In my case, it quit me. Now I'm applying everything I learned from ten years in that creative business to my full-time focus as a musician.”

Wallace produced her first album, Jazzmérica , an eclectic brew of salsa, jazz, and Brazilian influences. Despite the fact that she had no promotion budget, Jazzmérica slowly built a buzz. Rave local and national reviews led to airplay across the nation. Its success led to profiles on such syndicated radio programs as “Listen Here” and the BBC's “Have Your Say”; guest performances with the Reno Jazz Orchestra; working with Wallace as a Monterey Jazz Festival Latin Jazz Clinician; and contributing lead vocals to The Reckless Search for Beauty (Patois Records, 2007), Wallace's latest release. Their successful collaboration continues on Vagabundeo , another exciting step in the lifelong musical journey of Alexa Weber Morales. 

 

Album

 

Genre: Latin: Brazilian Jazz
Release Date: 2007

Recommended if you like
* Basia
* Ella Fitzgerald
* Sarah Vaughan

 

 

Track

 

Credits

Patricia Bahia Choir, Chorus
David Belove Bass
Anthony Blea Violin
André Bush Guitar
Edgardo Cambon Vocals (bckgr),
Coro Sandy Cressman Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus
Mimi Dye Viola
Louis Fasman Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Ken Lee Mastering
Murray Low Piano, Arranger
Melecio Magdaluyo Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Soloist
Gary Mankin Engineer
Frank Gayer Martin Synthesizer, Piano, Piano (Electric), Soloist
Alexa Weber Morales Arranger, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus, Soprano (Vocal), Alto (Vocals), Executive Producer, Author
Ricardo Peixoto Guitar
John Santos Percussion, Bongos, Maracas, Timbales, Triangle, Claves, Caxixi, Djembe, Agogo, Cajon, Ganza, Reco-Reco, Cowbell, Guiro, Handbells, Tamborim, Quijada
Michael Spiro Percussion, Castanets, Conga, Claves, Pandeiro, Surdo, Cuica, Ganza, Shekere, Guiro, Wood Block, Tamborim
Rev. Ron Stallings Saxophone, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus
Rick Vandivier Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Rhythm), Soloist
Paul VanWageningen Drums
Wayne Wallace Trombone, Arranger, Vocals (bckgr), Producer, Soloist
Kenny Washington Baritone (Vocal), Tenor (Vocal), Soloist  

 

Reviews

"With a voice sweet, pure and strong, Alexa Weber Morales is poised to ride the Bay Area Latin jazz scene to national recognition. On her new CD, Vagabundeo/Wanderings, she spans a wide spectrum of the music, getting help from ace producer, arranger and trombonist Wayne Wallace." --San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 2007

"Morales is a mix of jazzy sweetness (you could imagine her turning out an attractive album of standards) and Latin brightness." --Mary Kunz Goldman, The Buffalo News, June 22, 2007

"Multilingual, multi-culti jazz vocalist kicks it out a little farther and a little harder on her second outing. Very much the kind of singer you want to hear more of, more often, Morales is on the money throughout with a jazz/world date that open-eared adults will pass the word on quite easily and quickly." --Midwest Records, June 26, 2007

"Alexa Weber Morales is a San Francisco Bay-area singer whose star is rapidly rising. She sings in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and her lush, rangey, sensuous voice reminds me of Basia, another boundary-busting, powerhouse singer who made a huge splash in the early 1990s and has only recently returned. ... Is this jazz with a pop/Latin sensibility, or Latin with a jazz/pop sensibility? In purist circles, 'pop' is a four-letter word, but how crucial is that when music is so high-spirited and rendered with such care, talent, and heart? Vagabundeo/Wanderings is a good name for this wide-ranging, engaging journey. If Weber Morales ever decides to tackle some jazz standards, she could blow away half the current crop of vocalists. At least." --Dr. Judith Schlesinger, All About Jazz, July 04, 2007  

 

 

For more information about Alexa Weber Morales please visit www.alexawebermorales.com