Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Greetings, I hope this post finds you well in this ever-changing world.

I participated in the fall Americanafest which was a beautiful experience (thanks BK Roads for the review!) and took the banjo I checked out of Brooklyn Library. I was compelled to take a risk and play a song on it I just learnt in Spanish because of something that had just happened.

A young woman in Iran named Mahsa Amini had been arrested by the morality police for having her headscarf slip and expose her hair. She died in custody three days later under suspicious circumstances, and witnesses had observed the police beating her. This later sparked a massive movement of protest in Iran and internationally.

This song in Spanish is called Nada by a Colombian-Canadian musician/activist named Lida Pimienta. It’s about being a woman who is fated to die and carries her pain inside of her. She is strong and unafraid. I was a bit nervous as the trains were passing loud above me and I had technical difficulties with my pickup and hearing myself, but I dedicated the song to her and to all women.

Yo te soy sincero
Si es que mañana muero
No le tengo miedo
Pues soy mujer y llevo
El dolor adentro
Soy mujer de lluvia
De sangre, en luna
De tierra, sal y duna
Con amor, sin duda
Si es que mañana muero
De aquí yo no me muevo
Yo no le tengo miedo

Translation:
Let me be sincere with you
Because tomorrow I will die
I am not afraid
Since I’m a woman and carry
My pain inside
I am a woman of rain
of moon-blood
of earth, salt and dunes
Because tomorrow I will die
I am not moving from here
I am not afraid

This reminds me of four years ago, when I also took the stage at the Guatemala International Jazz Festival. I was nervous because I was premiering a song I had written two nights before when I heard that 40 girls had been burned alive in a children’s home where they had experienced abuse and were protesting their treatment. Trembling onstage, I dedicated the song to these girls and the women in Antigua, where there were also reports of femicide.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. All we can do as humans and as artists is to try so speak to what’s happening and bring people together. There is so much darkness in the world, that it can be a struggle to find beauty and light. But I feel like that’s the calling. I have been getting so many emails about how to rack up views or go viral on TikTok and stream content, but sometimes I just don’t feel like doing those things. So you are hearing less from me these days but I hope that the little I put out there has some meaning.

It’s all one can do these days, other than roll with the changes. Apologies for the infrequent postings, work and family upheaval has taken me away from artistic pursuits, although I still get up to the occasional jazz jam. My email server had been down for a bit and I finally fixed the issue. So you can contact me here or hit me up on Facebook and Instagram.

Peace and love. Hopefully some new stuff this winter.

F-2020

As we wrap up this dumpster fire of a year, things are looking up. A new president, a coronavirus vaccine, and a stimulus package are but a few things to look forward to in 2021. I am looking forward to finally releasing my record next year as well. As we are negotiating how to celebrate the holidays, I wish you well and send you this playlist to enjoy while bearing out the winter season.

2020 in Hindsight – a playlist by Alice Lee

New Video

Also managed to make a video to the track I made at home to round out the year.

This is a track I recorded at home and put to video.  Lagrimas Negras is a traditional Latin Caribbean song from the 1930s, here set to a hiphop and reggaetón beat.  I wanted to capture the energy of the wave of youthful protest this past summer, from underground street dance to taking to the streets and expressing joy, love, fear, and anger.  I feel like the fever broke from lockdown with marches and vigils and a community for change. Recorded on Garageband and produced on iMovie using Rotor footage.

Well, best wishes for 2021. We’re not out of the woods yet, I know, but hopefully in for some new developments and changes that will be positive.

I will be finalizing my album soon and dropping some singles down the pipeline, so stay tuned.

Summer Jam for the Summer that Never Was

Hello, a lot has happened in a few short months, but time has simultaneously dragged on and flew. After pulling myself out of a funk and some uncertainty at work and at home, I finally finished a track or two on the computer at home, and posted one I’ve been working on this summer in stops and starts.

Lagrimas Negras is a son-bolero (cuban-style song) that originated in the Dominican Republic by the Trio Matamoros in 1931. It has become a classic standard, covered by the likes of Buena Vista Social Club and Celia Cruz.

I wanted to do a banger, something you’d hear in a block party or blasting out of a car in the summertime. Some joyful noise in the midst of so much pain and confusion, as a tribute to my brothers and sisters who are marching against a system that has never worked for them. Black people have had to endure every type of indignity, yet still can sing and dance and celebrate life on a level that is admired and emulated. And in the Caribbean, the African influence has been strong and set the roots of Latin music, so I thought doing something raucous and driven with an army of voices to echo what is happening. So R&B/hiphop and reggaetón in equal measures, side by side.

Anyway, I will be better about making tracks, and hope to drop some breadcrumbs leading up to the record release. Stay tuned to the usual outlets for more music soon.

Peace and love.

Isolation Blues

So, as you know, all hell broke loose in March. The world turned upside-down, life was put on hold, and we were all staying home to keep from dying or infecting other people. Lots of people lost their jobs with no warning, businesses were forced to close, and people had to keep faith that what they were doing was for the greater good.

Well, we are in the second month of quarantine, and collectively, we are starting to lose our minds. The uncertainty and anxiety of how long this will last has started to come out in weird ways, some people breaking the rules, travelling, seeing friends for some relief, others lashing out, as it becomes apparent that we are not all equal in this crisis, and that some will suffer while others play and ride it out. It is extremely difficult to come together when so many forces tear us apart.

I wrote this song in one wine-filled scrawl on notebook paper, left it for a couple weeks and then added structure to it one late night before bed. A friend of mine keeps bugging me to enter Tiny Desk, and I didn’t think I had it in me to do one of my chestnuts, but this song came out, and I decided to bite the bullet and put myself out there to get this across. Mourning my twin heroes, John Prine and Bill Withers, men who served their country, spoke the truth, and weren’t afraid to tackle social injustice.

It’s not a “stay home, we’re all in this together” anthem. I wish I could make you feel that good, but I speak my truth about the general anxiety of this time and how perplexing it seems at times what it’s doing to us. I hope I don’t offend, I am just expressing my current reality as an essential worker, waking up every morning, taking my temperature, wondering if I have it or not. The mask, though unnecessary indoors, helped with my nervousness and served to document this moment in time, when it is such a flashpoint for our daily lives, to cover our faces and what makes us individuals for the sake of public health.

I hope you can understand or see some of this reality I am sharing with you. I hope you can be kinder and more understanding to your fellow human, I know it’s easy to be angry when we are in different boats in a turbulent sea, but I feel like our survival hinges on reaching for the better parts of ourselves and finding ways to cope, create, and continue community.

Dance like no one’s watching

Today I’m dropping the third installment in a series of videos I’m making of my past tunes. This week it’s one of my favorite songs, “Last Night”.

This song was inspired by a visit to Kilmainham Gaol in Ireland and is about a prisoner’s conjugal visit the night before execution.

Dancing lends such kinetic energy to a song, but I was never one to work with a choreographer and backup dancers. So for this video, I grabbed all the stock footage on dancing and threw it together, and – surprise! – it actually worked. More vogueing than you can shake a stick at, and my favorite one so far.

Here are affiliate links where you can get this song:

Apple Music

Amazon

Ebay – out of print Japanese CD

Another video…

I am working on dropping a video or some archival footage weekly, so you can enjoy something from the catalog, while I am working on next steps.

This week, I took a stab at a lyric video using the Rotor online software. They are just developing their text overlay, so transitions weren’t available, like they would be in FinalCut. Still, it was good challenge to make something not too clunky using only timing.

And here’s where I post affiliate links to my music:

Apple Music

Amazon

Ebay – out of print CD

Hasta el proximo video!

Hello Everybody!

I am starting to work more on my content while the record has been delayed for a moment. So, what better way than revisiting the archives and compiling songs from my previous records?

I have started to make videos using Rotor and FinalCut. So here is the first one:

You can download this song on Apple Music and Amazon.  Or you can get a collector’s out-of-print CD on Ebay here.

By the way, these are affiliate links to the above websites, so I can earn commission on any resulting sales.   It does help, while I’m in between things. : )