Thana Alexa

Surprising is the word that perhaps best describes Grammy® nominated vocalist, composer, producer, and jazz festival director, Thana Alexa. An extraordinarily creative force, her 2x Grammy® nominated album ONA (self-release, 2020) was inspired by the cross-generational and cross-cultural stories of the immigrant women in her family and evolved into an exploration of the experiences of contemporary women everywhere. Her music pushes the boundaries of genre with deep seeded roots in jazz and overtones of alternative world music and electronic soundscapes, placing importance on social activism, mental health awareness & uplifting female voices.

On Alexa’s forthcoming album of duos (set for release in 2027) she reimagines songs from The Beatles and Björk to Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder alongside a tour de force of artists like Bill Frisell, John Patitucci, Joel Ross, Antonio Sánchez, Ben Wendel and Max ZT. Alexa uses the full sonic palette of her voice as an arranging tool. Every sound beyond each special guest’s instrument—beatbox and rhythmic layers, bass lines, harmonic beds, ambient textures, even nature-inspired sounds—is created exclusively with her voice, used like a synthesizer to shift color, texture, and tone to build a dense, textured world that gives these iconic songs an entirely new sonic identity.

In January 2025, Alexa was one of 49 artists awarded the prestigious Creative Capital Award for her subsequent project, RESONANCE (set to premiere in 2028) – a song cycle that will explore how music and sound frequencies can trigger physiological, neurological and molecular reactions in the body and affect mental health.

In 2023 Alexa co-founded and is the artistic director of the Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival in Croatia, which stands as a beacon for the elevation of young professional musicians, a creative haven for internationally touring performing artists, and introduces Croatian audiences to new and innovative music that is pushing boundaries musically and socio-politically.

One of Alexa’s most important collaborations has been with her husband, four-time Grammy winning drummer, Antonio Sánchez (composer for the Oscar winning Birdman film and drummer with Pat Metheny for 20 years). Together they have recorded nine albums between Alexa’s projects and Sánchez’s groups Migration and Bad Hombre, and most recently were commissioned by University of California Northridge to write Existencia, a piece written for voice, drums and physical movement, premiered in 2024 together with LA based dance company DIAVOLO: Architecture In Motion, which unpacks the impacts of natural disaster, devastation, human resilience, and community rebuilding.

Awards

• 2025 Creative Capital Grantee
• 2021 Grammy® nominated artist
• 2021 Winner - Downbeat Magazine Critic’s Poll Rising Star Female Vocalist
• 2021 Winner - Int'l Songwriting Comp
• 2021 Jazz Journalist Association Nominee for Vocalist of the Year
• May 2020 Downbeat Cover Artist
• 2019 Cafe Royal Cultural Foundation Music Grantee
• Runner up 2014 Made in NY Jazz Competition
• Winner 2011 Jazzon Alpe-Adria Int'l Composition Competition
• 2011 PORIN Nominee Best Jazz Composition (Croatian Grammy)

Gear

Telefunken M80
BOSS RC505
TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch2

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