Busking by USA Rail Pass: Dancing Bees Surrounded Me in Manhattan!
I have peaked in my #busking tour of America by rail! It’s all downhill from here… (Just joking, I’m just getting started). Thanks to NYC resident and friend John Foley for invaluable filming and spontaneous NYC moral and tour support! https://youtu.be/F5zeOTe2yPk?si=3F0sK3N5A3PGqNL- But perhaps you are wondering how these bees came to join my traveling show? It turns out...
Busking across America with the USA Rail Pass: Life can change in an instant
I have a USA Rail Pass and I’m taking my piano and amp around the country! It’s not about making money, though that’s nice. It’s really about freedom. Giving the gift of music to the people. And making music on my terms. No complications, no band to manage, no tickets to sell, no shitty sound...
My top 11 takeaways from #NAMM 2018
Here are my top 11 takeaways from #NAMM 2018: #1 There’s a lot of money in the music business. But finding it, like hunting Pokemon, can be hazardous. Just know that it’s there, and don’t be desperate. #2 The Bay Area is a hotbed of talent, but LA has skillz. #3 Synth and electronic music...
Boca Mundial plays Dreamforce! Dream Valley stage, Tuesday 11/7, 5-6 pm!
My band Boca Mundial is back for a repeat engagement at the Dreamforce Dream Valley stage this coming Tuesday, November 7 from 5-6 pm! I always enjoy this massive event, which brings half a million people or more to San Francisco every fal! Looking forward to a great hit with Brian Andres, Anne Sajdera, Braulio Barrera, Galen Green and Scott Thompson. Listen for...
Oakland family camp gets 4 musician teachers in 2017!
It’s my 10th year teaching (or something like that, I’ve lost count)! This year I’m thrilled that we have four (count ’em) musicians joining me (and many more among campers and jammers)! Read on! OFRC MUSIC WEEK boasts four professional musician guest artists, July 9-16, 2017 All ages are welcome to explore ensemble playing on a variety...
Pacific Mambo Orchestra fan-funds their new album, Live from Stern Grove!
Bringing The Mambo Back, Big Band-Style! The Grammy Award-winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra releases its 2nd full-length album (and it looks and sounds amazing)! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bringing-the-mambo-back-big-band-style#/ PMO was founded in 2010 and is celebrating the Latin Big Band revival with its 2nd full-length recording, entitled ‘Live from Stern Grove’ feat. Sheila E., Marlow Rosado and Nora Suzuki...
Free lunchtime concert Friday 8/12 at Oakland Kaiser Building Roof Garden
Come hear the Boca Mundial trio: me with Braulio Barrera (percussion) and Brian Moran (guitar) at noon for a free one-hour show at the roof garden on Oakland’s Kaiser Building at Lake Merritt. Here’s a snippet of us noodling on one of the tunes we’ll do, a jazz standard called It Never Entered My Mind....
Berklee Press Announces New Jazz Guitar and Bass Titles
Berklee Press Announces New Jazz Guitar and Bass Titles Berklee Jazz Bass (HL50449636/$19.99) is written by a power team of past and present Berklee instructors (Rich Appleman, Whit Browne, and Bruce Gertz), who have 120+ years of teaching experience between them. This new title will help students learn the intricacies of playing jazz by expanding basic...
Get this beautiful jazz history infographic for Jazz Appreciation Month!
Happy Jazz Appreciation Month! Jazz is America’s classical music, a mixture of Afro-Cuban and African rhythms, blues, ragtime, spirituals and European polyphony and instrumentation, springing up from the former French port city of New Orleans. If you have trouble remembering when the Kansas City blues were big or who was part of the West Coast Cool Jazz scene,...
My songwriting, singing, writing and gigging clients are keeping me busy in 2016! Let’s keep the momentum going!
Recent clients 2016: Cantabile Youth Singers (corporate gig at gorgeous remodeled Angelicas, thanks for the lead, Mike Rinta!) Nissan (writing & recording two radio spots), Torani (performing with Pacific Mambo Orchestra), Cigital (corporate gig), Steffen Kuehn Music (composing/singing on his new record at Fantasy Recording Studios), The Music & Sound Retailer (new client I met covering The NAMM Show)! If you want to put my unique skills as a tech-savvy recording artist,...
Morales, Dyer & Green: A Tribute to Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, 12/27 at Fenix in San Rafael!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE alexajazz.com Spectacular vocalese, stellar setting make Morales, Dyer and Green: A Tribute to Lambert, Hendricks and Ross a must-see holiday event Oakland, California – Wednesday, December 2, 2015 – They were dubbed the “hottest new group in jazz”, but a fatal car crash and a pesky heroin addiction cut short their time together. Even...
