Alexa Weber Morales is a Grammy Award-winning salsa jazz singer-songwriter noted for "her flamboyantly multilingual repertoire" and based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Biography
Born in Berkeley, California, and attending schools in Berkeley, San Francisco, France, Cuba and Oakland, Alexa Weber Morales's itinerant upbringing included living on a sailboat, a VW van and an artist commune. She credits her linguistic ability, which includes fluency in Spanish, French, Portuguese and her native English, to this eclectic and international past. She was studying classical piano by the age of five and gave her first solo vocal performance at a Malcolm X Elementary School concert featuring Bobby McFerrin. She briefly majored in languages at Bryn Mawr College but dropped out in her second year. Returning to Oakland, she began working as a musician in churches, Renaissance fairs, cabarets and other local venues, while surviving on varied jobs such as roofing, auto mechanics, carpentry, translation and secretarial work. Landing a position editing a Spanish-language trade magazine led to several trips to Brazil and other South American countries, influencing her unique mix of salsa, jazz and Brazilian musical genres. After releasing her first and second albums, both produced by Wayne Wallace, she left the magazine to dedicate her time fully to a music career.
Recording career
Her debut album, produced by five-time Grammy Award Nominee Wayne "The Doctor" Wallace, was released in October 2004 on the label she founded, Crazy Monkey Productions. She signed to Wallace's own indie label, Patois Records, in 2007 and co-produced her next album, "Vagabundeo/Wanderings," with Wallace that year. In addition, she wrote lyrics and sang lead vocals for Wallace's "The Reckless Search for Beauty" in 2006. In subsequent years she had vocal credits on Wallace's "Infinity," "The Nature of the Beat" and "Bien! Bien." In 2011, Alexa Weber Morales joined the then-new 19-piece mambo/salsa band Pacific Mambo Orchestra. Leaving Patois Records, she launched a successful Kickstarter campaign and self-produced the all-original album "I Wanna Work For You." After assisting with Pacific Mambo Orchestra's successful 2012 Kickstarter effort, she recorded and composed for their eponymous debut album, which received a Grammy Award for the album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. Controversy around the upset win by the indie orchestra over super stars such as Marc Anthony and Carlos Vives led to international press coverage.
Performing career
Her versatile voice and ample range have been described various ways: As an "ardent, throaty alto that soars effortlessly into a crystalline soprano register," "sensually soaring," "lush, rangey" and "boundary-busting," and "dark, creamy vocals". Alexa Weber Morales is also recognized for on-stage charisma honed by more than a decade of live performance at venues such as Jazz at Pearl's in San Francisco, Yoshi’s, the San Jose Jazz Festival and shows in Austin, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Boston. She has opened for Lenny Williams and Average White Band. She joined Pacific Mambo Orchestra in 2011 because of its live performances Monday nights at Cafe Cocomo in San Francisco and soon became "the voice of the band." When Pacific Mambo Orchestra was signed to Columbia Artist Management in 2013, Alexa and the band toured US performing arts centers with special guests Tito Puente Jr., Marlow Rosado and Willy Torres.
Discography
''Jazzmérica'' (Crazy Monkey Productions, 2004)
"But I'm Weak" by Alexa Weber Morales
"I Did It, I Live It" by Alexa Weber Morales and Wayne Wallace
