Songwriters' Mechanical Rates Hearing: NMPA vs. RIAA

> On Monday, January 28, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) begins the
> hearing that will determine mechanical rates for every songwriter
> and music publisher in America. It will be the most important rate
> hearing in the history of the music industry because in addition to
> setting rates for physical products, rates will be set for the first
> time ever for digital products such as digital downloads,
> subscription services and ringtones.
>
> The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) will be
> representing the interests of songwriters and music publishers and
> will be fighting vigorously to protect those interests to ensure
> that musical compositions are compensated fairly.
>
> On the other side of this fight stands the Recording Industry
> Association of America (RIAA) and the Digital Music Association
> (DiMA). Both the RIAA and DiMA have proposed significant reductions
> in mechanical royalty rates that would be disastrous for songwriters
> and music publishers. This is literally a fight for the survival of
> our industry.
>
> To give you an example of what is at stake, the current rate for
> physical phonorecords is 9.1 cents. The NMPA is proposing an
> increase to 12.5 cents per song. The RIAA, however, has proposed
> slashing the rate to approximately 6 cents a song - a cut of more
> than one-third the current rate!
>
> For permanent digital downloads, NMPA is proposing a rate of 15
> cents per track because the costs involved are much less than for
> physical products. The RIAA has proposed the outrageous rate of
> approximately 5 - 5.5 cents per track, and DiMA is proposing even
> less.
>
> If you find that troubling, it gets worse. For interactive
> streaming services, which some analysts believe will be the future
> of the music industry, NMPA is proposing a rate of the greater of
> 12.5% of revenue, 27.5% of content costs, or a micro-penny
> calculation based on usage. The RIAA actually proposed that
> songwriters and music publishers should get the equivalent of .58%
> of revenue. This isn't a typo - less than 1%. And DiMA is taking
> the shocking and offensive position that songwriters' and music
> publishers' mechanical rights should be zero, because DiMA does not
> believe we have any such rights!
>
> The initial hearing will last four weeks, with the three permanent
> Copyright Royalty Judges hearing arguments Mondays through Thursdays
> from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm each day. At the conclusion of the initial
> hearing, there will be more discovery, followed by a rebuttal
> hearing in May, and a final decision expected on October 2.
>
> The NMPA will be spending millions dollars in this proceeding to
> protect the interests of songwriters and music publishers against
> the much larger record labels and digital media companies. And
> although we face such an enormous fight, we have an incredible
> advantage - we represent songwriters, without whom the record labels
> and digital music services could not exist.
>
> Please forward this to anyone who is involved in the songwriting and
> music publishing industry. We will be sending out regular updates
> as the CRB progresses to keep you informed. Through your networks,
> we hope to reach the vast majority of the industry. If you did not
> receive this directly, and would like to be added to the master NMPA
> communications list, please send your contact information to Jamie
> Marotta at jmarotta@nmpa. org.
>
> As always, we appreciate your support of the NMPA which allows us to
> wage this fight on your behalf.
>
>
> David M. Israelite
> President & CEO
> National Music Publishers' Association

Team in Training Kickoff!

I had a long-ass gig Friday night in San Jose at the Fairmont Hotel. We had three costume changes, and our formal gowns (there are three singers) were quite popular with the crowd. However, I didn't get home until 3 AM! I went to sleep only to hear my husband (a born early-bird) crowing "Wake up, Ironman!" at 7:30 AM. I got up and got my older son ready to accompany me to the Team in Training kickoff meeting for my triathlon fundraising adventure.

It began at 9 AM in San Francisco. There were hundreds of new and returning athletes, cancer survivors, mentors and coaches. After getting our T-shirts, we crowded into a conference room. The lights dimmed and a movie with a cheesy Michael Bolton song, "Go the Distance," began playing. Right away I teared up watching montages of children undergoing chemotherapy and athletes crossing finish lines. After the movie ended, we learned about the history of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, founded in 1949, and the 20 years of Team in Training, its highly successful venture that pairs endurance sports with fundraising.

Then a man got up to share his story: An avid cyclist and father of two, he always saw Team in Training (TNT) athletes at races and wondered who these crazies were. One day his wife announced she was going to run a marathon with TNT. From that point on, they were hooked, and both became deeply involved in the organization. Several years in, his wife took a paying position with TNT. Then, in 2006, he noticed himself fatiguing frequently. A routine blood test revealed the unthinkable, ironic diagnosis: Leukemia. And not a "better kind" of leukemia. After chemo and radiation, his only hope was a bone marrow transplant. But being an Asian American with a rare antigen in his genetic makeup, a match proved impossible to find, even after a worldwide search. His wife organized a donor drive to register more Asian Americans and he realized that even if no one matched him, at least his efforts would make it less likely that someone else would suffer the same fate. Amazingly, a match was found. One year ago yesterday he received his transplant and is now in full remission, a husband, father and athlete with a second shot at life.

One of the more touching aspects of his story was how TNT supported him. His hospital room
overlooked Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, and he used to look out the window at the endurance athletes training for upcoming events. At the end of every workout, he said, they'd jump, scream and wave wildly in the direction of his window, filling him with hope.

Of course, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society does much more than provide emotional support: The increased life expectancy and reduced morbidity of these diseases is due in great part to the numerous research grants it has provided. From 1960 to 2000, the five-year survival rate of Leukemia has gone from just 14% to 48%, Hodgkin Lymphoma from 40% to 86%, and Myeloma from 6% to 32%. In 2006 alone, the nationwide organization raised $240 million, with $13 million coming from Northern California. More than 75% of funds go to the charitable (tax-deductable, of course) cause.

After the touching stories of cancer survivors and "honorees" currently in treatment, we met our coaches and mentors, many of whom also had stunning stories of cancer diagnosis and recovery. "These people are your inspiration," we were told. "If you think it's hard biking up a mountain, just remember -- they've been through a lot harder." As I looked at the training schedule, I began to realize this was going to kick my butt! "If you try to fit this program into your life you're going to fail," the head coach said. "You have to fit your life into the program."

I am officially petrified of what I've got myself into. I've never done anything like this in my life, either athletically or financially. But things could be a lot worse, as I learned yesterday.

With that said, thank you to my early donors! Please donate to this great cause today and know that you helped cure cancer!

Team In Training: Please Donate to Help Cure Leukemia

Well, folks, I decided to do it! I'm going to train for a triathlon--Olympic distance, most likely, but if I really go nuts I might try for Half Ironman distance. I'm doing this with an amazing organization called Team In Training, which is run by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Today I got a call from my mentor, and she said that the most important thing to do to reach my fundraising goal of $2,900 (80% of which goes to the charitable cause, with the remainder covering administrative costs) is not to wait! So, it's not chock full of details about my training yet (I will be posting those frequently), but I do have a page up and running where you can donate to the cause. It's tax-deductable, of course, and those of you from my software development-related past, or any of you who are gainfully employed, may wish to ask your HR department to match your donation.

It remains to be seen whether this will be easier or harder than selling CDs, but I have a feeling it won't be hard. All I need is for 100 people to donate $29 (but please give more if you can)!

Also, I am doing this as a celebration of life. I want to know that when I leave the planet I used my body to its maximum potential. If you're like me, you probably know several people who have been affected by blood cancers (my grandma died of it at a young age, and the grandma I grew up loving was actually my father's stepmother). I have several friends who are struggling with these diseases, but the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has been a major force in helping doctors find new treatments. Please join me and support this worthy cause!

Asi Es El Amor, a Film Directed by Vince Mansel

My very dear friend Vince Mansel made this movie about me in November. It's really gorgeous in high-definition, but YouTube's codec doesn't make it look bad either. Thank you Vince, from the bottom of my heart!

Thank You For Listening to The Goddess of War!

Oh my goodness! Thank you for all the support! The Goddess of War, an original of mine on Vagabundeo, has now reached #160 from its previous position at #380 just a few days ago! To be honest, I said it debuted at #380 but I don't actually know where it started on Neil Young's list of 2,421 protest "Songs of the Times." But I am grateful to see it moving! If you haven't, won't you click over to his page and give The Goddess of War a listen?

L.A. Times Editorial Shakeup: Last Words

This is from a farewell email sent today by James E. O’Shea, fired after 14 months as editor of The Los Angeles Times. I recommend reading the whole thing, but these closing paragraphs echo my exact sentiments at the end of my 10 years as a magazine editor. His vision for the future of journalism is inspiring and true.

The biggest challenge we face -- journalists and dedicated newspaper folks alike – is to overcome this pervasive culture of defeat, the psychology of surrender that accepts decline as inevitable. This mindset plagues our business and threatens our newspapers and livelihoods. I believe that when Sam Zell understands how asinine the current budgetary system is, he will change it for the better, because he is a smart businessman and he understands the value of wise investment. A dollar’s worth of smart investment is worth far more than a barrel of budget cuts.

This company, indeed, this industry, must invest more in solid, relevant journalism. We must integrate the speed and agility of the Internet with the news judgment and editorial values of the newsroom, values that are more important than ever as the hunger for news continues to surge and gossip pollutes the information atmosphere. Even in hard times, wise investment — not retraction — is the long-term answer to the industry’s troubles. We must build on our core strength, which is good, accurate reporting, the backbone of solid journalism, the public service that helps people make the right decisions about their increasingly complex lives. We must tell people what they want to know and — even more important — what they might not want to know, about war, politics, economics, schools, corruption and the thoughts and deeds of those who lead us. We need to tell readers more about Barack Obama and less about Britney Spears. We must give a voice to those who can’t afford a megaphone. And we must become more than a marketing slogan. I know I can rely on this newsroom to do this.

Lastly I want to make it clear that I didn’t quit. Anyone in a top newsroom management job during tough times always wrestles with a crucial question: Where is the line? At what point do you go from "I can deal with this" to "this is simply wrong. " When I was Managing Editor of the Chicago Tribune, I always thought my line was 600 newsroom employees. If the publisher demanded cuts that would take the newsroom below that level, I would leave because I felt staffing would slip to a level that would not allow me to sustain the quality newspaper that the community deserved. The Trib had 610 people in the newsroom when I left.

So when I got here, I wondered anew: Where’s my line: Would it be a newsroom of 800 people? 700? But then I realized the folly of that kind of thinking. I’d been around the accountants and their "metrics" too long. The line you draw is this: Do I believe in the course we’ve set for the future? If the answer is Yes, if I thought the LA Times could resolve its problems by getting smaller and smaller, by being gradually diminished, then I would stay. If not, (and I don’t) then I told myself to take a stand and say enough is enough. If you have to consider closing foreign bureaus and cutting back in other parts of the paper to free up the money needed to cover the Olympics and the most historic political campaign in modern times, well to me that’s no plan for the future, that is not serving the interest of readers. It is simply stupid.

Even though we face tough and demanding times and I sympathize with those who face daunting revenue challenges, I don’t believe that we will succeed long term by giving up; by taking steps that I think will gradually diminish newspapers. I decided to take my stand and say: Change the way we do things. I made that decision and I will live with the consequences. And when I walk through the Globe Lobby for the last time, I can guarantee you that I won’t regret taking that stand. I believe history will prove me right. When this industry stops relying so much on cuts and starts investing in Journalism, it will prosper because it will be serving the best interests of our readers. That’s when we will prosper. I wish you all the best and with that it’s time to say of my tenure here: Dash 30 Dash.

The Goddess of War Makes Neil Young's List!

Singer-songwriter icon Neil Young has tirelessly opposed the war in Iraq, his expression of dissent culminating in the 2006 release, Living With War. Now my original The Goddess of War from the new album Vagabundeo (Patois, 2007) has made Young's list of 2,421 protest "Songs of the Times," debuting at #380! Won't you click over to his page and give The Goddess of War a listen? Thank you for your support and thank you to the musicians who made this song a powerful and unique protest!

Alexa Weber Morales Band at Jazz at Pearls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 16, 2008

SINGER/SONGWRITER ALEXA WEBER MORALES
TO APPEAR WITH HER BAND AT
JAZZ @ PEARL’S, SAN FRANCISCO,
FEBRUARY 8-10

SHOWS TO FOCUS ON BRAZILIAN MUSIC,
FEATURING MATERIAL FROM HER SECOND CD “VAGABUNDEO”
AS WELL AS NEW ORIGINALS, IVAN LINS COMPOSITIONS

Oakland singer/songwriter Alexa Weber Morales returns to Jazz at Pearl’s, San Francisco, with an exceptional new band Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10 for two shows nightly. The multilingual Weber Morales plans to emphasize the Brazilian and Portuguese-language segment of her repertoire, with selections from her latest Patois CD Vagabundeo (Wanderings); songs by Edu Lobo (“Ave Rara,” “Ponteio”) and Guinga (“Orassamba”); new originals by Weber Morales; and songs by the great Brazilian composer Ivan Lins (“Sambadouro,” “Lua Soberana”).

Alexa also intends to expand on the new CD’s stunning vocal interplay and a cappella work (“Morning,” “Calling You”) with the able assistance of backup singers Bryan Dyer, Zareen, and David Chaidez.

“Fans of my songs in French and Spanish won’t be disappointed,” she assured, noting that each night will offer her trademark spectrum of world music including salsa, Caribbean, funk, and a jazz ballad or two.

Her instrumental accompanists will be Murray Low, piano; Scott Thompson, bass; David Flores, drums; and Emiliano Benevides, percussion.

“All eight of us have eclectic taste, an addiction to rhythm, and a love of great songs from around the world. I’m especially looking forward to recreating some of the vocal complexities of my two albums with singers who bring so much heart and soul to the stage,” said Weber Morales. “I’m also eagerly awaiting that irrepressible Brazilian groove that Emiliano and Scott will bring home, since they both have so much experience in the genre.”

At Pearl’s, named one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world by DownBeat magazine, there are two shows: 8:00 ($20) and 10:00 pm ($20). Doors open 30 minutes prior to each show. Jazz at Pearl’s is located at 256 Columbus Avenue (at Pacific), San Francisco. For ticket information, call 415-291-8255 or log on to www.jazzatpearls.com.

THE ALEXA WEBER MORALES BAND



Since 2004, Alexa Weber Morales has made five studio recordings, including her two solo albums, Jazzmérica and Vagabundeo. The latter, named “one of the greatest Bay Area recordings in recent times" by Latin Beat magazine, made top-20 airplay nationwide and received acclaim from around the world. Rio de Janeiro–based producer Arnaldo DeSouteiro (João Gilberto, Luiz Bonfá) calls her performances “bewitching” and praises her original compositions as “rhythmically captivating and entrancing.”



Murray Low is a 30-year veteran pianist on the Bay Area jazz scene. Though he is a tireless performer, recording artist, and arranger, he is best known for his work with Pete Escovedo (since 1994); Grammy-nominated John Santos and the Machete Ensemble (since 2000); and Andy Narell, the pioneering steel pan player. His multifaceted career has also included international performances with Tito Puente, Bob Mintzer, Sheila E, Benny Golson, John Patitucci, George Duke, and many others.



Bassist Scott Thompson has been teaching, performing, and recording since he was only 15 years old, showing a gift for heartfelt American funk as well as the rhythms of Brazil. Now 22, he has already shared the stage with such world-class musicians as Chico Pinheiro, Marcos Silva, Omar Sosa, Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, Jovino Santos Neto, John Mayer, Anthony Coleman (Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill), and Steve Wyreman (Keyshia Cole, Goapele, Missy Elliott, Lyrics Born, Keak da Sneak).



Although Bay Area native David Flores is a drum-set player at heart, he is also a skilled hand-percussionist. As a performer he’s worked with such artists as Lauryn Hill (2007 world tour), Orestes Vilató, Donna Summer, Francisco Aguabella, Pete Escovedo, John Santos, Michael Spiro, Steve Turre, Peter Erskine, Bobi Céspedes, Mark Levine, Ray Vega, John Calloway, John Benitez, Rebecca Mauleon-Santana, Mickey Hart, Melvin Seals, and Mary Wilson of the Supremes.



Percussionist Emiliano Benevides, from Goiânia, Brazil, was a member of the São Paulo-based theater and music troupe Marombar. He has played with Brazilian stars Margareth Menezes and Velha Guarda da Mangueira. Since moving to San Francisco in 1995, he has appeared in four San Francisco Opera productions: Carmen, Harvey Milk, Rigoletto, and Salome. He is currently working as artistic director for the Aguas da Bahia dance company and performing with his own band, Bat Makumba.



Vocalist and keyboardist David Chaidez, a San Jose native, has been working in the Bay Area as a professional musician for several years. He has also performed as a featured soloist at prestigious venues such as the 2000 Nice Jazz Festival in France and the 2002 Monterey Jazz Festival. In 2002, he formed the Brazilian trio Agua Na Boca which performed around the South Bay regularly for three years. David is currently working with his new group, the David Chaidez Quintet.



Vocalist Zareen grew up in a small town outside of Boston. She has studied with Madeline Eastman, Kurt Elling, and Raz Kennedy; writes her own songs; and will soon release an album of trip-hop tunes. Her repertoire also includes Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and Latin American music. Zareen has performed all over the Bay Area, with several different bands including Los Boleros, Simply Jazz, and the Befores, but she especially values her performances with her 3rd-grade students.



Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Bryan Dyer is a professional musician with almost 20 years of experience who has performed many styles of music from classical and avant-garde to rock, jazz, and blues. Music has taken Bryan around the world to countries including Japan, Switzerland, and Jamaica, alongside such artists as Al Green, Michael McDonald, and Bonnie Raitt. He currently performs with SoVoSo, Slammin All-Body Band, and Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir.

•

http://www.alexawebermorales.com / http://www.patoisrecords.com

Media Contact:
Terri Hinte
510-234-8781
hudba@sbcglobal.net

Go Fug Yourself: Fug the Cover: Keira Knightley

Sometimes I see amazingly tailored fashion and covet it--it's the costume aspect I admire, the effortless chic of an old Cary Grant movie. Then I see something like this, which probably costs a fortune, and realize it's not so bad that I buy my clothes at Mervyn's!

Check out this denim atrocity!

Go Fug Yourself: Fug the Cover: Keira Knightley

Herbert on Politics and Misogyny

Politics and Misogyny
By BOB HERBERT

With Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s win in New Hampshire, gender issues are suddenly in the news. Where has everybody been?

If there was ever a story that deserved more coverage by the news media, it’s the dark persistence of misogyny in America. Sexism in its myriad destructive forms permeates nearly every aspect of American life. For many men, it’s the true national pastime, much bigger than baseball or football.

Little attention is being paid to the toll that misogyny takes on society in general, and women and girls in particular.

JAZZed Magazine on Herb Pomeroy

I first read about Berklee College of Music Herb Pomeroy, who passed away in August 2007, in David Valdez's excellent jazz blog. In the January issue of JAZZed magazine, an homage to Pomeroy by musician Bryan Kane had some inspiring passages for band leaders.

At the end of my first rehearsal with Herb, I knew I was in for a completely different experience. I was shocked at how quietly the band played! The band rehearsed in a small room with very limited sound treatments. The tendency for all bands in these rooms was to overplay. This was never allowed when Herb was in the room. He always taught the importance of listening in difficult acoustic situations. Herb's job was to listen to and carefully evaluate student compositions. In order to do this, he needed to hear every part and every harmony. The band's job was to play in perfect balance, sight read the charts as close to perfection as possible, and follow all dynamics to the extreme while adding appropriate style.

When everyone in a band is listening intently, big bands become almost like living, breathing organisms. Hearing the balance within a sax section, the hum of vibrato, and the interaction of how lines move between winds and brass is almost a meditative experience. Though I had been playing in extremely good big bands for years, I had never heard anything like this. Imagine, a second tenor player, clearly hearing the fourth trumpet part within the balance of the trumpet section, trying to listen to match intonation, and being frowned at by Herb if the intonation wasn't perfect. That was me.

Two other points worth sharing:

Know Your Band
...When choosing music for a group or creating arrangements, make your decisions based on the band you have, not the band you wish you had. ... Is it better for students to have the exeprience of playing ten or twenty different pieces per year to gradually develop their musicianship and skills or is it better to spend time trying to master three extremely difficult pieces for performance?...


Respect the Person, Teach the Musician
...I've often encountered bands where directors were hesitant to remove musicians because they felt they needed them to fill a section or complete a band. I can say, from personal experience, that it is much better to have an incomplete band than allow a disruptive and negative influence into the group. All of your good students will appreciate and respect you for the decision.

Both are good principles for life in general: Set realistic goals for gradual improvement, and remove negative people from your inner social circle.

Just Don't: Dowd and Brooks

After years (years!) of knowing that I cannot read the New York Times' Maureen Dowd -- or David Brooks, for that matter -- without feeling a surge of rage and a desire to send them obscene emails, I went and read them just now. Why? I'm not going to bother to link to them. People who want to stay on an even keel should not read them either. Suffice it to say that Dowd, queen of superficiality, said Clinton pulled the "poor woman card" the other day and alluded to various spurious scandals -- God, does this kind of hack deserve a Pulitzer? -- while Brooks wrote an equally facile column that pretended Clinton no longer existed based on the Iowa results (he probably doesn't even feel embarassed with Clinton's New Hampshire victory now on the books).

Here's the problem: These people forget that writing an opinion column gives you license to opine, which is not the same as writing factually unsupported innuendo. In other words, have an opinion, but then have the decency to construct a scaffolding of analysis underneath it, so that readers can evaluate your position. Both of them disturb me with their veneer of intelligence, which covers nothing but celebrity tabloid journalism disguised as Washington insight.

I'll take Bob Herbert or Molly Ivins (RIP) or Carl Hiaasen or Chauncey Bailey (RIP) any day. Legwork? It may not be in style, but it's what the best columnists do.

Steinem on Presidential Gender

Women Are Never Front-Runners - New York Times

"Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House."

Gloria Steinem puts into words exactly what I was feeling until the New Hampshire results came in!

Fans Say the Darndest Things

Last night, a woman buying a CD from me says, "My friend just bought your other CD, so I'll get this one and we'll just burn copies for each other." I didn't reply to that, but I sure would like to have a witty way of suggesting they buy, not burn for the future. I'm not totally against burning or making personal copies of music you love, of course. But I tend to avoid doing so with indie artists. Seeing as CD sales at gigs are a major income source, the least you can do is not tell the artist you're planning on copying their work for distribution!

Her Name Is Ledisi!

Last night I had a rehearsal at my house for our upcoming show (9:30 PM Saturday, January 5th at Ashkenaz) and at the end I left the guys to load out of my living room on their own while I booked over to Yoshi's in Jack London Square to see Ledisi with my friend Emily. Emily is the one who introduced me to Ledisi in the first place, 7 to 10 years ago, and she has seen her perform at nearly every "nook and cranny in the Bay Area" as Ledisi put it during the show. I've seen her at Stern Grove opening for Nancy Wilson (where I remember her telling the audience she was nervous), a horribly loud Rassella's date where she could barely be heard over the patrons and a great show at Cafe Du Nord. I've bought all three of her albums.

The 10 PM show was sold out, which has been the usual for Bay Area Ledisi shows for several years now (she's often cited as the only local artist who can sell out 300-seat Yoshi's for a week). She fronted her longtime band of piano/keys, guitar, bass, drumset and three vocalists with a voice as malleable as rubber, but with absolute control. She can go from a head-thrown-back gospel wail to a straight-toned pianissimo in seconds. Her skills would be meaningless, however, without her songwriting and stage presence.

She didn't play the latin jazz original I love, "Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue," but the entire show was her R&B tunes ("'ARRuh and B' is what they used to call it," she said.). To be honest, her new album, nominated for a Grammy (along with Ledisi best new artist! Go girl!!), has a commercial smooth R&B sound (a la Erykah Badu, Jill Scott) without any jazz thrown in for those of us who like hearing her treatment of standards. But having seen her live, I can appreciate the album more. For instance, she opened the show with Lost and Found, which is reminiscent of a song from The Wiz. On the album it starts with just voice and piano. A violin comes in after the verse and chorus, followed by subtle synth pads, making this one of the simplest acoustic productions. Her lyrics are always evocative:

Souls pass me by
Why can't they see me here
Touch me one time
Just like magic
I will reappear
Sadness like the rain it showers over me
I wanna feel again
Please someone find me

Now that I'm playing the album again, I hear more acoustic moments as well as her irrepressible scatting.

Her patter during the show -- "church in a juke joint," she called it -- went full circle. She started with a funny riff on "mean people," and later discussed how couples in dysfunctional relationships "lose their walk" and did a funny imitation of male and female struts and shuffles. At one point she described sleeping on floors in New York before nailing her current record deal with Verve, and beginning to question her will to continue singing. "I realized, I'm not Beyonce." "My name is Ledisi" was a constant refrain, said while imitating a DJ turnabling. During her song "Take Time" she did an extended, hilarious interlude where she scatted and pantomimed the activities of a hectic day, including commuting, meeting and typing on the computer.

It all makes me wonder how much she has rehearsed and refined some of this material. To my mind, the show was a flawless inspiration. And that was what she left us with. "My name is Ledisi. I'm a Grammy nominee -- two time! I'm not saying that to boast," she said. "I'm saying that because I've done the work. I want to leave you with a message. I want to inspire you. I was lost and now I'm found." Amen!

Alexa's New Year's Resolutions for Indie Musicians

This is the year we're going to make it BIG, baby! Armed with my knowledge of the recording and gigging industries, I offer these ten tips for surefire indie music success in 2008.

10. New you, edgy new hairstyle: the zebra-striped mullet.

9. Always look sharp in case you meet an up-and-coming podcaster.

8. Be all things to all bookers. Your "Michael Bolton Goes Latin" tribute band can get more gigs to the gallon by advertising "Bat Mitzvah Bashers ('tweens with 'tude)," "Logged Lincolns (satanic toddler screamo)," "Molten Smores (militant campfire rap)" and "We're Dripping with Dulcolax (Dion redux)."

7. Rigorously ensure legitimate polyethnophonic statements, non-harming acousticism and eco-temporal integrity in all your compositional endeavors.

6. When in doubt, go Goth. Especially when playing standards.

5. Prepare for marketing via reality TV by speed-eating raw horse testicles, raising pirate children or proclaiming your love for dim-witted bachelors.

4. Read my lips: No more half-diminished seventh chords.

3. Ditch the hipsters for an untapped audience: drifters.

2. Nurse every rejection until it festers -- then write a song about it. Play the song for a showbiz cynic or an abusive relative. Repeat.

1. Remember, you're a musician. Don't get all cocky and ask to be paid! (See #5 for more lucrative career opps.)

Bonus tip: Visit www.myspace.com/alexawebermorales for music, videos and more!

Thank you and Happy New Year!

Two More Top 10 Lists for 2007!

TOP 10 SALSA AND LATIN JAZZ ALBUMS, California/West Coast Style
Leon "El Leon" Reyes

1. Jose Rizo TAMBOLERO
2. Spanish Harlem Orchestra UNITED WE SWING
3. Alexa Weber Morales VAGABUNDEO
4. Frank Cano A BEAUTIFUL DAY
5. David Cedeno A NEW RETURN
6. Papo Vasquez FROM THE BADLANDS
7. John Santos Quintet PAPA MAMBO
8. Steve Guasch SIGUIENDO LA TRADICION
9. Various LATIN JAZZ Putumayo
10. Wayne Wallace THE RECKLESS SEARCH FOR BEAUTY

TOP 10 VOCAL JAZZ/SALSA ALBUMS for 2007
Saúl Zavarce, Presenter & Producer of Fiesta Jazz
106.7 PBS FM Melbourne - Australia (myspace.com/fiestajazzradioshow)

1. SPANISH HARLEM ORQUESTRA - United We Swing
2. LATIN GIANTS OF JAZZ - Trip To Mamboland
3. NILS FISHER - Gracias Joe Cuba!
4. TEAM VIP - De Corazón A Corazón
5. CABIJAZZ - Suena A Salsa Con Jazz
6. RAY MARTINEZ & SABOR CRIOLLO - Alto Nivel
7. FABIANA PASSONI - It’s My Turn
8. KAT PARRA - Birds In Flight
9. ALEXA WEBER MORALES - Vagabundeo
10. MARC ANTHONY - El Cantante