Thana Alexa & Antonio Sanchez at National Sawdust

Join us for a Digital Discovery Festival dual performance by the four-time Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Female Vocalist nominee Thana Alexa and her husband, the Pat Metheny sideman and Birdman original soundtrack composer, percussionist Antonio Sánchez. Their program will explore how the pair use song to bridge cultures and musical traditions, both as performers and as a couple. Surprising is the word that perhaps best describes Thana Alexa, an extraordinarily creative force in music. An awe-inspiring vocalist, composer, and arranger – for whom the voice is both a lyrical and experimental instrument – her music pushes the boundaries of the genre into new and unexplored territory with deep seeded roots in jazz and overtones of contemporary soul and world music...

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Join us for a Digital Discovery Festival dual performance by the four-time Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Female Vocalist nominee Thana Alexa and her husband, the Pat Metheny sideman and Birdman original soundtrack composer, percussionist Antonio Sánchez. Their program will explore how the pair use song to bridge cultures and musical traditions, both as performers and as a couple. Surprising is the word that perhaps best describes Thana Alexa, an extraordinarily creative force in music. An awe-inspiring vocalist, composer, and arranger – for whom the voice is both a lyrical and experimental instrument – her music pushes the boundaries of the genre into new and unexplored territory with deep seeded roots in jazz and overtones of contemporary soul and world music. Her newest album, Ona, draws influence from the life experiences of women, starting with the women in her family, and branches out to paint a picture of the experiences of women in modern society as a whole. The album speaks to us musically about every facet of womanhood, conveying a message of strength and empowerment. It is riveting, yet gentle, activist driven, and surprising. Perhaps Alexa’s most important and ongoing collaboration has been with her husband, five-time Grammy winner Antonio Sánchez (composer for the Oscar winning Birdman film and drummer with Pat Metheny for 20 years). Together with his band Migration they have recorded three critically acclaimed albums including the most recent CAM Jazz recording Lines in the Sand, a protest record about the immigrant experience. The group has toured worldwide and electrified audiences throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

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