Colombian singer María Alejandra Jiménez, also known as Alea, has given us the honor of answering our questions to know a little bit more about her and her career, which has us satisfied. We do not always have the opportunity to work with such a versatile and talented artist.
Today the young woman from the Colombian Guajira is an artistic producer, composer, and singer who has experimented with genres such as jazz, Latin jazz, and Colombian folk music, among others.
What drew Alea’s attention to music?
In her response to the same question, Alea said she remembers to be a two or three-years-old girl when she attended her first salsa party in her living room. She also remembers how that music that she heard for the first time put her into a pleasurable trance-like state that had her dancing for hours. It was the rhythms and the beat that she loved so much she would never forget them.
She was just about 15 years old when she played her first paying gig. She describes the process of making herself as an artist as funny and very creative. However, it was not until 2015, when she was already living in Boston, Massachusetts, that she decided to take “Alea” as her stage name.
It was there where she finally became professional in the field by studying music at Berklee College of Music with a special focus on jazz and vocal performance. It is also worth mentioning that, prior to that, Alea had already studied organizational communication at Colegiatura Colombiana in Medellín.
Alea’s First EP
While it is true that official sources indicate that Alea released her first EP, *Alborotá*, in 2010, which, by the way, was nominated for Best Latin Album of the Year, but it is not quite like that. The Colombian artist corrected us, saying that her first EP was actually her graduation project, which was a recording with a strong focus on jazz and some of the typical folklore of her country. However, she still had a lot to learn and discover about music.
When “Alborotá” was finally released, it was her first approach to the sound she truly wanted to achieve. Alea sought that her music served as tribute to her Latin American roots, to feminism, and to women’s empowerment in this era. Likewise, she wanted to propose a sound coming from the city that inspired her most at the time: New York.
It was a very contemporary acoustic sound produced by the independent vinyl record store, Jarana Records. The artist says she was carried away by how the music made her feel, and, to her surprise, the public welcomed the album incredibly well, much better than she initially expected.
She never in her life expected that her work resulted in one of the best albums in Rolling Stone and the broadcasting and media organization National Public Radio (NPR), but it indeed was so, which means that all her effort was completely worthwhile.
Being an independent artist without the necessary financial resources to invest in promotion or marketing, this triumph made her feel much prouder of herself than she could have ever imagined.
Voice Acting
In addition to singing, something that Alea loves to do, she has also devoted a large part of her career to acting and lending her voice to major productions while still living in Mushaisa, La Guajira, and later in Medellín. She would also do so in the United States, as she always liked this artistic branch.
Bassist Andres Fonseca Alfonso
Guitarist Gustavo Alfonso Diaz
Saxophonist D.J. Duffy
Trombonist Melisa Raquel
Choreographer Argelia Rossana
Musical director Felipe Fournier
While still in Colombia, she also had the opportunity to learn a bit about radio and television broadcasting when she was studying in her home country, so all these areas were very easy to learn for her. This also served as a second career for her, this in order to take the heat of her having to derive all of her income from music.
First, she worked as a production associate for a music and sound company, and then as a producer, which gave her a very clear visión about how to do things properly in this field.
She also told us that she has her own home studio where she pretty much does all her work and that she has taken workshops with SAG-AFTRA (the leading union of entertainment and communications professionals in the United States) as a member.
She has also lent her voice to various commercials for major companies such as Walmart, Nissan, Verizon, MLB Bobbleheads, LinkedIn, Pepto, Corona Refresca, Google’s Waze, Liberty Mutual, and Denny’s.
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