What's Up?
“Thana isn’t afraid to take risks. Her vocal performances are powerful, vulnerable, joyful, spiritual and genuine. Her use of rhythm, textures and intricate harmonies is unique and at times, complex. Sometimes you think you know where she is going, then she SURPRISES you.”
— Regina Carter / violinist, recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” and Doris Duke Awards
“Thana Alexa’s ONA is an exquisite work embodying boundless creativity and genre that stretches to every corner of the Earth, and the imagination. ONA is a story of strength, authenticity, and the deeply grounding nature of the divine feminine”
— Becca Stevens / Grammy nominated Singer and composer
“...a jazz singer with a global perspective...”
— The New York Times
Life & Work
Bio:
Alexa's family narrative unfolds like a captivating international saga, featuring a diverse cast of spies, military officers, politicians, lawyers, and philanthropists, all against the backdrop of a prestigious European jazz club. Born in New York City to an American-Croatian mother and a father hailing from Croatia, both of Alexa's parents' families sought refuge from communism in Yugoslavia, eventually immigrating to the U.S. after World War II.
Her maternal grandfather, Marquis Frano de Bona, a descendant of Dubrovnik's ancient noble lineage, served as a Lt. Commander in the Royal Yugoslav Navy before becoming a double agent for British Intelligence. Awarded the Order of the British Empire for his pivotal role in the D-Day invasion, he, along with his two partners, inspired Ian Fleming's creation of James Bond. On the paternal side, one great-grandfather was a Colonel in the Royal Yugoslav Army Special Forces, while the other played a key role in uniting Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes to form Yugoslavia in 1918. Her paternal grandfather, a distinguished professor of medicine at NYU Medical School and a skilled plastic surgeon, was also a talented classical violinist—the same instrument Alexa plays today. Her paternal grandmother, now in her 100th year, lived through World War II and witnessed the founding of Croatia.
Displaying an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age, Alexa embarked on a career as a haute couture designer in Zagreb and New York, eventually overseeing a large company. Her U.S.-educated parents achieved success in their respective fields, with her father establishing a Manhattan law firm after graduating from Harvard, and her mother becoming a prominent figure in American banking before presiding over a foundation supporting the arts.
Alexa's musical journey began early, with her playing the violin at the age of 4 and earning the first chair in the Stamford Youth Symphony by 12. Initially aspiring to be a classical violinist, she shifted gears at 13 when her family moved to Croatia. There, she discovered her voice, delving into jazz, blues, and soul under the guidance of a vocal teacher. Discovered at 16 by world-class jazz vibraphonist Bosko Petrovic, she found mentorship in him until returning to the U.S. for college.
Graduating with dual bachelor's degrees in jazz and contemporary music, as well as psychology, from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and Eugene Lang College, Alexa's transformative experiences included mentorship from legendary drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Encouraged to explore composition and arrangement, she broke new ground as one of the first vocalists to join the New School's instrumental ensembles. Her professors supported her mission, guiding her to perceive her voice and music as an instrumentalist, not merely a vocalist—an approach that influenced her debut album.
Reflecting on her artistic journey, Alexa expressed a profound belief in the power of musicians to impact change through art. "As musicians, we have an incredible ability to reach people through art," she remarked. "If you're making art, it has to say something. Every turning point in the history of the world has involved art and artists connected to the movements of change. I want to be part of that."
The Recôncavo is an almost invisible center-of-gravity. Circumscribing the Bay of All Saints, this region was landing for more enslaved human beings than any other such throughout all of human history. Not unrelated, it is also birthplace of some of the most physically & spiritually uplifting music ever made. —Sparrow
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers: Personal recording engineer for Prince, inc. "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"... Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory
I'm Pardal here in Brazil (that's "Sparrow" in English). The deep roots of this project are in Manhattan, where Allen Klein (managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones) called me about royalties for the estate of Sam Cooke... where Jerry Ragovoy (co-wrote Time is On My Side, sung by the Stones; Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin of course; and Pata Pata, sung by the great Miriam Makeba) called me looking for unpaid royalties... where I did contract and licensing for Carlinhos Brown's participation on Bahia Black with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
...where I rescued unpaid royalties for Aretha Franklin (from Atlantic Records), Barbra Streisand (from CBS Records), Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Jim Hall, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Ray Barretto, Philip Glass, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd for his interest in Bob Marley compositions, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and others...
...where I worked with Earl "Speedo" Carroll of the Cadillacs (who went from doo-wopping as a kid on Harlem streetcorners to top of the charts to working as a janitor at P.S. 87 in Manhattan without ever losing what it was that made him special in the first place), and with Jake and Zeke Carey of The Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You)... stuff like that.
Yeah this is Bob's first record contract, made with Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One and co-signed by his aunt because he was under 21. I took it to Black Rock to argue with CBS' lawyers about the royalties they didn't want to pay. They paid.
MATRIX MUSICAL
The Matrix was built below among some of the world's most powerfully moving music, some of it made by people barely known beyond village borders. Or in the case of Sodré, his anthem A MASSA — a paean to Brazil's poor ("our pain is the pain of a timid boy, a calf stepped on...") — having blasted from every radio between the Amazon and Brazil's industrial south, before he was silenced. (that's me left, with David Dye & Kim Junod for U.S. National Public Radio) ... The Matrix started with Sodré, with João do Boi, with Roberto Mendes, with Bule Bule, with Roque Ferreira... music rooted in the sugarcane plantations of Bahia. Hence our logo (a cane cutter).