Humbling moments

Periodically, those closest to me want to make sure my ego is not growing out of proportion with my success. Let me reassure them, however, that even as I enjoy forward momentum as a musician, there are moments that keep me grounded. Such as:

--The gig where the only compliment I get is that I played the triangle well (I only play it on one song, Edu Lobo's Ponteio).

--Between sets, a woman says she was looking at me and thinking, "I wonder if that's how I'll look when I get older?" Later she adds, "I also was noticing your hair, because my hair kind of does that crazy look too if I let it."

--Before another gig a woman says, "You look like the singer." "Yep," I replied. "Well," she snarls, "you better sing well!"

--The gig that ends with the bartender yelling "Give it a rest already!"

--I sell my CD to a guy and he's pretty drunk and later I heard him fighting with someone at the bar. Drunks make me sad.

It was raining incredibly hard last night as I drove to my gig in the city, which was well attended, about 130 people despite the Oscars and it being a Sunday night. On the way, I was dreading that no one would be there because of the weather, and doing the poor-me internal monologue about how inconvenient the rain was. Then I thought, "Tsunami. Now THAT's inconvenient."

Oh, and we did nail that crazy beautiful bridge section in All Blues after all.

Anyway, I can't complain. "It's getting better all the ti-i-ime. Bettah, bettah, bettah..." I mean, I'm not doing singing telegrams anymore, or singing while dressed as a Renaissance wench, or being rejected in auditions, or singing chamber music that I like but don't love, or singing on boats or in malls. Let me tell you, boats (not cruise ships--I mean ferries or yachts) are not a good place for a gig. Noisy, fumy, and if it's nighttime, mostly filled with drunk business folks.

A Great Gig

I had so much fun last night. We played at the Jazz School in Berkeley. The band was Dave Mathews on piano, Jeff Chambers on upright bass, Michael Spiro on percussion and David Flores on drumset. I get so much from these guys, there's such an awesome musical conversation that happens when you play with greats. I adore Dave's piano style, he's so versatile and lavishes so much on boleros and ballads, then has great chops for salsa and samba. I met Jeff at Jazz Camp last year and upon first seeing him play in a faculty concert thought immediately, I hope I can play with him someday. Turns out he toured with Cuban pianist/composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba for several years, and here I was wondering if he played latin jazz. His bass solos were so beautiful and his feel is so comforting. Mike does everything well, be it Brazilian or Mexican or funk, as does David Flores. What I love is that songs that I always do the same, such as Delirio, suddenly transform and I find myself singing all kinds of new things because the band is so hip and creative.

We ended the evening with Miles Davis's All Blues really up-tempo 6/8 and I couldn't figure out how to get into a really cool bridge that Wayne wrote (and I wrote lyrics for) for the arrangement on our record, so we just skipped that, and at the end we went into an open percussion session with Mike and me singing some cantos (chants to the Cuban Orishas--the only one I know is Ladioke, but he was singing a bunch of different ones).

I'm hoping on Sunday, when I play with essentially the same band, substituting David Belove on electric bass and adding Wayne on trombone, we can set up that bridge section enough in advance that I can come into it and know where I am. That's what I love again about Dave Mathews, afterwards we talked about it and he knew exactly how the melody line went and said he'd practice so he could play some transition that would make it easy to jump in. That's the key, these guys are great at comping and soloing. I just love 'em.

Protest songs

I was thinking just now about protest songs. As I wrote in my last post, I had to quickly change the radio station the other day because the news was this guy describing the anatomy of a missile and how it operates and how star wars theoretically works and I just can't handle that #$%% at 7 am, let alone any time. But isn't it interesting how you can calmly, methodically discuss war and bombs and it seems the most normal thing--but what if this guy were saying, well, when you murder someone with a knife, the trajectory of the knife is important, and where the target is on the body, and the force you apply affects how quickly you kill them.

I have tried writing protest songs. Not easy. There's some truism--was it Irving Berlin who said, "if you want to send a message, use Western Union?" It's so hard not to be heavy handed or cliched. I have a few brewing. Mountains to Flatten, which is on my CD, is a protest song, of sorts, talking about how political apathy leads to environmental destruction. Wow, doesn't that make this song sound just so compelling and exciting? Of course, I do have it posted as a free download on my site. So maybe "free" is more enticing than "geological ramifications of sociopolitical ennui." The lyrics are here.

There's a cool article in the November 2004 issue of Vanity Fair on protest songs. They list the best and discuss them:

1. Woody Guthrie: "This Land Is Your Land," "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)," "Do-Re-Mi," "Vigilante Man," "This Train Is Bound For Glory"

2. Bob Dylan: "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "With God on Our Side," "Only a Pawn in Their Game," "The Times They Are A-Changin'," "Blowin' in the Wind"

3. John Lennon: "Imagine," "Give Peace a Chance," "Working Class Hero," "Woman Is the Nigger of the World"

4. Buffy Sainte-Marie: "Universal Soldier"

5. Billie Holiday: "Strange Fruit"

6. Marvin Gaye: "What's Going On"

7. Neil Young: "Ohio"

8. Bob Marley: "Get Up, Stand Up"

9. Les McCann and Eddie Harris: "Compared to What"

10. Pete Seeger: "We Shall Overcome"

Wow, seems to me they forgot Stevie Wonder's "Living Just Enough for the City" and "You Ain't Seen Nothing," to name just two. There was a song Bette Midler recorded in the 90s too, "From a Distance."

Music for the masses

There were some great moments during the Grammys last night. You know: Alicia Keys, and then Alicia Keys in a duet with Jamie Foxx--that man can sing! He did a great, non-Ray Charles-impersonating version of Georgia, starting off playing piano. Also, Kanye West. Great rap/song (Jesus Walks), great gospel-style staging, great acceptance speech. And Usher, what a dancer, a mix of Fred Astaire and Michael Jackson plus his own style. Usher's duet with James Brown, those happy feet! Stevie Wonder, say no more!

I have to give props to Jennifer Lopez for bravely singing live with her husband, the masterful Marc Anthony. But it was very painful to watch. She has improved a lot, though. I really would love to know how much of a technological safety net she had--though it wasn't enough to prevent some flubbed notes.

Am I a complete idiot for writing about this? The answer would have to be yes.

But I do listen to a lot of pop music, because I like hearing songs and singers and voices. And I believe in accessibility. Mass production has gone too far, no question. But jazz has a lot to learn from current pop music. The guy who wrote High Fidelity, Nick Hornby, wrote a book I like about various popular songs he loves, and I agreed with practically every essay. One encouraging thing I see in jazz is how Stevie Wonder is becoming the Gershwin of today--his tunes are proving themselves as new jazz standards. But I was dismayed when I sat in a radio programmers session at the IAJE conference last month and they talked about how the accepted jazz format is one singer per hour. I thought to myself, "that's why I don't listen to enough jazz radio." And beyond that, in the jazz world you have to constantly prove yourself as a singer by imitating instruments and scatting, and these are beautiful things in the right hands, but really, only a gifted few should be doing that. Because it's not accessible to people who aren't musicians. People listen to music for the emotional response it inspires, that's it.

And you can't just blanket pop music as junk when you look at the unusual things people like Bjork come up with. Or even the singer/instrumentalists who are up and coming now, Keys, and Norah Jones, John Mayer, the other pianist girl whose name escapes me. I mean, the stuff is just ridiculously overplayed, I'll grant that. And that turns me off.

When I did my radio interviews on KPFA, both the shows I did were so wonderful in terms of the diversity of sounds they played. I really respect KPFA DJs David McBernie and Raquel Aguirre's choices. Neither seems forced into any sort of rubric where there's only a certain type of Brazilian or a certain type of straight-ahead jazz or world music they'll play.

But here's the problem: KPFA's a mixed-format station, so you get the news. And ever since becoming a mother, I can't handle NPR radio news (have never watched TV news anyway). This morning was a perfect example: I get into the car to take my son to preschool and the station was left on NPR and here's this erudite male voice talking conversationally about missile defense: Here's how we think we can stop the missiles ... payload ... warhead ... AAAAGH. I change the channel. I will vote faithfully, I will make phone calls or write letters when it is required, I will read the New York Times, but I will not be sucked into the media/pundit matrix. Especially since November 2, 2004, I'll take TV and pop radio escapism any day over that. Stay informed. But be wise about it, or the data mongers will drown you.

Songwriting is hard

Thursday night I went over to Wayne's house (my producer/arranger) to go over some tunes we'll do the next 2 weeks for the Monterey Jazz Festival outreach program, visiting schools in the Monterey/Salinas area. I've been doing a lot of writing recently, and one song in particular I'm really proud of lyrically, and I recorded a version with a few vocal harmonies. I wrote the lyrics in a few hours over 2 days, and then spent a few sessions over several weeks trying to refine the tune and find chord changes. I don't want to give away the song idea quite yet, but basically I'm struggling to find the right groove, maybe a 6/8 or something sea shanty-ish (except I don't know what a sea shanty sounds like, other than "What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor"). I'm reminded of something Claudia Villela said, about the gorgeous Portuguese sea songs and their sadness--it gave an insight in Brazilian "saudades," or nostalgia. The Portuguese were great mariners, but that meant dangerous months or years away from home, sad homes on a rocky, sea-struck coast.

I don't know enough theory, just enough to get myself out to choppy water, so I'm guided by my ear, but then I find myself wondering, do all my songs sound the same? Of course, Dylan said he'd only ever written 1 or 2 songs, he just kept re-writing them differently. And this morning I was reading these Rumi poems in a book I just bought and he said this: "If you want to be thought a great person, learn some subtle point and say it with many variations as the answer to every question."

Anyway, I played my new song for Wayne (I had tried to get another one in shape for him the night before but couldn't decide between a Bill Withers-inspired approach or something more Jobim-like. Wayne ("the Doctor") gave 1 or 2 suggestions, basically thought it needed work (which of course it does). One suggestion that I don't think I like is changing the lyric in a way that think will steal some of the mysticism from it. On the harmonic side, he suggested changing the bass notes so that the melody isn't always on the tonic of the chord, which is a good idea--of course, these chords were super basic changes anyway. He named 2 or 3 songs to listen to to illustrate that idea (his knowledge in this respect is encyclopedic--he can always name several examples of a particular groove or approach on a song and then find the album and play it for you and it's crystal clear). But on the whole he didn't seem that thrilled with it. Of course, this is pretty much the way our relationship has always worked, he gives me 1-2 sentence assessments of my stuff, 1 or 2 suggestions, and not too much encouragement, and I stew about it and most of the time I go back and improve it. But of course I always want him to go "that's fantastic, it's done, all it needs is an arrangement." I think he's only said that once to me. Ironically, that song didn't make the cut on the album.

Chuy Likes Jazzmérica!

Here's Jesse Chuy Varela's review from the February 2005 issue of Latin Beat magazine:

“Bay Area vocalist Alexa Weber Morales is an artist just waiting to happen. You can hear the enjoyment she derives from singing, as well as the chops that she’s honed to get to this point on Jazzmérica, her debut outing. The SF Bay’s Wayne Wallace, the extraordinary arranger and trombonist, co-produced the sessions with Alexa and created a patchwork of African-derived jazz fusion that is swinging. The hemispheric diversity is delightful. But I’m Weak is an original by Morales that takes us to Brazil. I Did It, I Live It is a ‘samba caribe,’ a gumbo with reggae, samba and Trinidadian flavors. All Blues is done in a 6/8 Afro-Cuban style, with John Santos on percussion. My favorite is the lush Manhattan Transfer-style vocal rendering of Claire Fischer’s Morning. Overall, Morales shows on this album that she is a jazz singer at heart but with a soul that sees no borders within its musical perspective.”

Syndicated radio play!

Just heard from the Emmy-winning jazz journalist Mark Ruffin, who was broadcasting his show Listen Hear with his partner, Neil Tesser at the IAJE (see earlier posts) in Long Beach. I handed them my discs. He says he's been playing it on the air for weeks in Chicago, and they featured it this past weekend on their syndicated radio show, Listen Here. It was on 85 stations this past weekend. The show can be heard until this weekend at listenhereradio.com. They featured my album in the very first segment.

Also El Leon (Leon Reyes) at KVMR 89.5 FM in Sacramento, CA wrote to say he loved the album and was playing it on his salsa and latin jazz show last night!

Radio play for Jazzmérica as of November 2004

I met a ton of DJs down in LA at the IAJE and have to follow up with them. The response has been very supportive; DJs seem to dig what Wayne and I did and think it's unique. These are the handful of stations that have played the CD so far, with just little ol' me doing some promotion. I can't wait to see how the response will be when we do the national release!

KCSM 91.1 FM – San Francisco/San Mateo/Oakland/San Jose, CA
DJ: Jesse Chuy Varela, “The Latin Jazz Show”

KPFA 94.1 FM – Berkeley/Fresno, CA
DJ: Raquel Aguirre, “Musical Colors” (30-minute live interview with Alexa, 12/7/04)
DJ: David McBernie, “Music of the World” (30-minute live interview with Alexa, 12/10/04)

KALW 91.7 – San Francisco, CA
DJ: Dore Stein, “Tangents”

KMFB 92.7/96.7 FM – Fort Bragg, CA
DJs: Liz Helenchild and Doug Moody

KFSR 90.7 FM – Fresno, CA
DJ: Joe Moore

WWSP 90 FM – Madison, WI
DJ: Nick Marrero, “Latin Jazz Expressions”

Miss Nancy Wilson's Wisdom

As I was saying, I saw Miss Nancy Wilson interviewed by great Chicago singer Kurt Elling at the January 2005 IAJE in Long Beach, CA. Here are some gems:

About singing jazz:
Though her grandmother wished she'd sing gospel, most of her family was supportive of her choices. "If God wanted me to sing like Shirley Caesar, he would have given me her pipes. If I'd sung gospel, I wouldn't have a voice today."

About the Capitol years:
"That was before 24 track--the day the music died. [audience laughter] Before 24 track, there was no going back and fixing it." Elling observed that most of her recordings were done in one take. She mentioned the importance of freshness in the studio.

About your people:
"Surround yourself with people you trust emotionally and musically. "I've never recorded anything I didn't like. Very few things I've recorded haven't been released." She's made more than 60 albums under her own name.

About self-possession:
She never questioned God's gift to her. "Singing was just what I did." She new exactly what she wanted when she went to New York in terms of musicians and manager.

About acting:
"Just look at it, read it, and go there."

Her favorite sound:
"Any of my four grandchildren saying 'Grandma'."

About technique:
"I've never done any vocal exercises, though I understand that I should." She mentioned drinking warm water and advised: "Don't push--don't reach, don't overdo it, don't abuse it."

About jazz as a living art form:
"We have to match the 13-year-old's dollar if we want things to change."

About choosing songs:
"I really either like a lyric or I don't and that's the God's truth. But I don't look at a piece of paper. I hear it."

About religion:
"I know that God IS. The church is trying to find itself. I worship God. I don't worship a church."

About the Internet and digital recording:
"It lacks warmth, humanity. I'm very concerned someone could exploit my music. All that to me lacks warmth. It's light. I don't feel it."

About motherhood:
When I asked her how she managed to have three children, she responded that her son wasn't so hard--that was just one child, and she had them "in two batches," with her two daughters coming later. "Always put the children first, and everything will fall into place." That said, "one of my daughters remembers all of the times I was there; the other remembers all the times I wasn't."

Update from IAJE

Hi folks, I'm hoping this will be a quick and easy way to let you know what's going on my musical world. I was down in Long Beach, Calif. January 5-8, 2005 to attend the International Association of Jazz Educators conference. It was a wonderful experience, and I got lots of great feedback on my new CD, Jazzmerica, and sold quite a few too. On the radio, I was pleased by some of the diversity I heard--a hip-hop/R&B station seemed to be far less ghettoized than our Bay Area version, mixing more alternative rock styles in. And they played a cool singer/songwriter, John Legend. But wait, the point is not to describe LA radio--this conference was a confluence of jazz greats.

In my next post, I'll tell you about the Grammy-sponsored interview Kurt Elling conducted of Miss Nancy Wilson. What a wise woman, musically, spiritually and practically.