Thana Alexa

Her forthcoming album, ONA ("SHE" in her family's native Croatian language), scheduled for release on March 27, 2020, is Alexa’s focus, her mission statement. Inspired by her attendance at the Women's March in Washington DC in 2017, the album is influenced by the inspiration she draws from the life experiences of women, starting with those 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.

ONA has spawned more female-focused projects: Alexa, together with Grammy® nominated artist, Nicole Zuraitis and one of NYC’s most versatile and sought-after bassists, Julia Adamy formed SONICA, an exciting new trio that fuses electronics, vocal loops, three-part harmonies, electric bass, keyboards and percussion into their unique original music and arrangements. Alexa also created the project Founding Mothers of Jazz in conjunction with MusicTalks Concerts to celebrate and honor the powerhouse women who helped build the jazz genre from the ground up, many of whom are not historically recognized for their contributions because of their gender.

As a bandleader, Alexa is perhaps best known as the formidable vocalist and composer of her 2015 album Ode to Heroes Harmonia Mundi / Jazz Village featuring saxophonist Donny McCaslin, drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassists Scott Colley and Jorge Roeder.

Alexa's most important and ongoing collaboration as a side-woman has been with five-time Grammy winner Antonio Sanchez (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: Lines in the Sand (CAM Jazz) featuring Chase Baird, pianist John Escreet, bassist Matt Brewer, New Life (CAM Jazz) and The Meridian Suite (CAM Jazz) featuring saxophonist Seamus Blake, pianist John Escreet, and bassist Matt Brewer. She appears on guitarist Gene Ess's albums Fractal Attraction (SIMP), Eternal Monolyth (SIMP), Absurdist Theatre (SIMP) and Apotheosis (SIMP), for which she contributed original music and lyrics. The first two albums won the SESAC Jazz Award in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Alexa has also collaborated with vibraphonist Christos Rafalides.

For four consecutive years, Alexa has appeared in the DownBeat magazine Critics' Poll for Rising Female Vocalist. She was runner-up in the 2014 Made in New York Jazz Competition. In 2011, she was the winner of the Jazzon Alpe-Adria International Composition Competition and a nominee for Best Jazz Composition by PORIN, the Croatian Music Academy (an honor equivalent to the American Grammy Awards).

Thana Alexa (born Thana Alexa Pavelić; born March 19, 1987) is a Croatian American jazz vocalist, composer, arranger and producer who is known for using her voice as both a lyrical and experimental instrument. Her original music incorporates overtones of contemporary soul and Ethno jazz. Her use of electronics, loops, atmospheric sounds and vocal textures, all give way to a hybrid sound that is uniquely her own and defies classification. .