(Jazz Village)

Born in New York City, but raised in Croatia, vocalist Thana Alexa discovered her interest in jazz at an outdoor café in Dubrovnik. On her debut recording Ode to Heroes, Alexa demonstrates the universal reach of jazz through her highly impressive chops as singer, writer and arranger. The project’s title aptly describes the project which pays homage to her influences in her life and music. In addition to her own quality compositions, which comprise most of the recording, Alexa delivers inventive lyrics and great arrangements for signature tunes by Wayne Shorter, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. The band here is excellent as well, with co-producer (and co-writer on several songs) Antonio Sanchez on drums, Sergio Salvatore on piano, Jorge Roeder and Scott Colley on bass, Lenart Krecic and Donny McCaslin on tenor saxophone and Christos Rafalides on vibraphone, among other players. Alexa is an outstanding talent that we look forward to hearing more from in the future.