Louise Alexandra: Crazy World of Love

The release of Crazy World of Love marks a new chapter for Louise Alexandra, a jazz vocalist whose artistry is as deep as her background is unconventional. Splitting her time between the vanguard of medical science and the timeless traditions of jazz, Alexandra is a Dutch-American vocalist, songwriter, and active cancer research scientist. For over 15 years, she built a formidable reputation within Boston's highly competitive biotech and jazz circuits before returning to the Netherlands, where she continues to develop cancer therapies while pursuing her musical evolution with enhanced focus.

Alexandra's former stage name was Louise Van Aarsen, before life took turns and she sharpened her professional artist image as Louise Alexandra. As a scientist, she has always been known as Dr. Louise A. Koopman, and concentrates on drug discovery, antibodies, immunotherapies and cancer biology. She has successfully straddled the left- brain and right-brain worlds of science and music. Central to Alexandra's vocal identity is her profound association with the late Rebecca Parris, widely revered as Boston's "First Lady of Jazz" and a peer to legends like Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. As Parris' student and trusted protégé, Alexandra absorbed the master's lessons in emotional delivery, phrasing, and stagecraft. Parris didn't just teach Alexandra; she actively mentored her career, directing and shaping her earliest recorded statements.

Crazy World of Love stands on the shoulders of two previous, critically-respected studio albums that highlight Alexandra's steady artistic trajectory: the Parris-directed Destiny (Self Produced, 2012), recorded with premier Boston jazz musicians, established her clean, traditional sensibilities and sophisticated tone grownup music for grownups. Also directed by Parris was the follow-up recording, Today (Self Produced, 2020). This release revealed an increased confidence, deeper emotional nuance, and an expanding repertoire.

While her previous catalog firmly rooted her in the rich tradition of the New England jazz scene, Crazy World of Love represents a major geographical and stylistic leap. Collaborating with Dutch jazz royalty—including pianist Rob van Bavel and his trio—Alexandra steps fully into her own as a lyricist and arranger, seamlessly bridging her American jazz upbringing with a vibrant European sensibility. The recording has several highlights, including Emmet Cohen's "Angel of Mine," to which Alexandra penned lyrics she shared with Benny Benack III, who also played flugelhorn on the song. The singer breaks out her impressive vocalese chops on "East of the Sun," "Crazy World of Love," and "Hershey Bar / Little Did I Dream."

The singer gets personal on the ballad "We Had It All." Alexandra paints a very adult picture of growing together and apart sans any romantic affect. She tells it like it is. The spirit of Parris, always close, becomes tactile on the "Some Other Time / We'll Be Together Again" diptych. Alexandra creates a panorama of love in all its guises on Crazy World of Love.