Review: The Montclair Women’s Big Band at Yoshi’s
I went to see the Montclair Women’s Big Band last Sunday at Yoshi’s Oakland. It was a packed house for the 17-piece ensemble. I’ve always loved big bands, but I’m more attuned to them now than ever since I’ve been working this year steadily with Pacific Mambo Orchestra. Unlike PMO, where trombonist Mara Fox (who...
I WANNA WORK FOR YOU CD Release Party @ Yoshi’s Oakland 12/18
Announcing the I WANNA WORK FOR YOU album release concert Sunday, December 18 at Oakland Yoshi’s! Sam Bevan, Mara Fox, Vince Mansel, Braulio Barrera, Carlos Caro, Colin Douglas, Steffen Kuehn and Jonathan Alford join Grammy-nominated vocalist Alexa Weber Morales in performing originals from her latest album, which was fan-funded on Kickstarter. Tickets for the 7...
I Wanna Work For You Goes On Sale Today!
Today, my third full-length album goes on sale in digital format. This is an album about the search for work, for purpose, for justice, for love, for anything real in an artificial world. The 10 original tunes on I Wanna Work for You ruminate on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and naked grabs for...
Alexa Gets Funky with PMO
Oh man. I was feeling good on Monday. Here’s a funky chacha brassy big band salsa BAYAREA soul breakdown version of Asi No Papa with Pacific Mambo Orchestra at Cafe Cocomo in San Francisco! See all you papacitos & mamacitas on SATURDAY night!
The Rush of Real Music
OVERHEARD: “It was the greatest performance! They really put on a show! The whole time the band plays, there’s a painter who’s using tennis balls to create a bigger-than-life portrait of Che Guevara. The singer is a freaking contortionist. There’s a lot of really hot girls in the audience because the bass player is ripped,...
Pacific Mambo Orchestra
One of my favorite bands to work with is Pacific Mambo Orchestra, which is led by Christian Tumalan and Steffen Kuehn, boasts several of the Bay Area’s best salsa singers including Alexis Guillen and Braulio Barrera, and is frequently home to Santana players Karl Perazzo and Jeff Cressman. Pacific Mambo Orchestra has changed the San...
Never Give Up
Action begets action! Look at how much you have done! Laugh at all the times you smacked against walls, fell into holes, made godawful mistakes, wandered aimlessly, said what should never be said, kissed the wrong frog, embarrassed yourself and others, acted a fool. That’s how you get wise, baby. You go balls-in! You scoff...
