Alex Hamburger

Flutist-composer and singer Alex Hamburger's latest album And She Spoke threads generations of powerful female voices on the DC-based musicians's debut release. The impressive record is a collection of women's stories - from poets and activists to composers and songwriters - offering original music and fresh interpretations of enduring works. This highly orchestrated assortment is a thoughtful sequence of trailblazing narratives from figures such as influential jazz musicians Geri Allen and Mary Lou Williams to Maya Angelou and Joni Mitchell. Notably, the artist's own grandmother, poet and activist Ana Maria R. Codas, even gets a nod.

Hamburger says while conceptualizing And She Spoke,she felt as though she was "standing on the shoulders of giants," crediting her musical journey to the women, specifically Black women, who came before her. "These women made it so women like me could have a voice," Hamburger says. "Women like Terri Lyne [Carrington] and Mary Lou Williams paved the way."




Recorded in a single day at JazzCampus Studio in Basel, Switzerland, And She Spoke features quartet members José Luiz Martins on piano and Rhodes, Chase Elodia on drums and Hamburger's mentor-turned-colleague Doug Weiss on bass. "Playing with Doug is always a lesson," she reflects. "He's just so solid and grounding yet so interactive - a part of this big swirling thing. What he brought to the music was really his experiences - who he is. Having someone from his generation who's been around and played around - even the way he talks about music - you can feel all that when you play with him."

Cool clarity from recording and mixing engineer Patrik Zosso serves the music's precision and tonal colors, and Hamburger's overall aesthetic for the recording. "Patrik heard the music and knew what it needed," she says. The two mixed together remotely, sending each other notes and tracks. "We didn't have that 'sitting down moment,' but he was really patient."


"A lot of how we view music, on a very visceral level, is through texture," says Hamburger. She and Martins match and reflect each other's melodic development against spontaneity, particularly on their stark, haunting arrangement of Mitchell's "Last Chance Lost" that leads into Beatles classic "Across the Universe," as well as on Allen's "Unconditional Love." Foundational buoyancy enhances the record's exploration of texture, nuanced and elemental. "Waking in the City," Hamburger's response to Angelou's "Awaking in New York," delivers a mood-casting drone that rapidly gains momentum. The artist's channel-driving, reflexive energy on "Burning the Letters," the flutist-composer's tribute to Sylvia Plath, and serve a strong, lyrical statement on Hamburger's arrangement of Williams' "What's Your Story Morning Glory."

"People outside of certain circles maybe don't know as much about who Geri was and what she's done for the music," says Hamburger. "I just love the way she wrote. I love the way she played and the way she conceptualized music. I had to include her in this project. She's one of those women who broke the boundary and said, 'f this. I'm gonna play. Get out of my way.'"


Rich transitions abound throughout "It Comes Unadorned," Hamburger's arrangement of Toni Morrison's vivid verse. But the artist-composer's most personal gesture memorializes the revolutionary life of her grandmother who fought for academic integrity under the Stroessner dictatorship in Paraguay. "I was blown away by her poems and stories," says Hamburger, "by this art that I was connected to and how amazing it was and how much it resonated with me. She was the starting point [for this project]."

Through Hamburger's skilled arrangements and creative interpretations of existing literary works, And She Spoke tells a series of stories that share an arc of resistance, grace and grit. "It's been a journey for sure," she says. "That day in the studio was everything I had worked on for so long. And it's a dream come true."

Hamburger's daring debut album is available on all platforms, including Bandcamp. Get it here. - Broadway World

DC-native flutist, composer, and vocalist Alex Hamburger threads generations of voices through her debut release And She Spoke. Focused on sharing women’s stories — from poets and activists to composers and songwriters — the album offers original music and fresh interpretations of enduring works. Exploring pieces from Geri Allen, Maya Angelou, Mary Lou Williams, Joni Mitchell, and her own grandmother, poet and activist Ana Maria R. Codas, Hamburger creates a highly orchestrated, textural experience that unfolds in thoughtful sequence.


‘And She Spoke’ album cover.
In her liner notes, Hamburger describes the experience of conceiving and recording And She Spoke as “standing on the shoulders of giants.” She credits her own pathway through the music to the women — and, in particular, the Black women — who came before her. “These women made it so women like me could have a voice,” she says. “Women like Terri Lyne [Carrington] and Mary Lou Williams paved the way.”

Recorded in a single day at JazzCampus Studio in Basel, Switzerland, And She Spoke features quartet members José Luiz Martins on piano and Rhodes, Chase Elodia on drums, and Hamburger’s mentor-turned-colleague Doug Weiss on bass. “Playing with Doug is always a lesson,” says the DC artist. “He’s just so solid and grounding yet so interactive — a part of this big swirling thing. What he brought to the music was really his experiences — who he is. Having someone from his generation who’s been around and played around — even the way he talks about music — you can feel all that when you play with him.”

Cool clarity from recording and mixing engineer Patrik Zosso serves the music’s precision and tonal colors, and Hamburger’s overall aesthetic for the recording. “Patrik heard the music and knew what it needed,” she says. The two mixed together remotely, sending each other notes and tracks. “We didn’t have that ‘sitting down moment,’ but he was really patient.”


“A lot of how we view music, on a very visceral level, is through texture,” says Hamburger. She and Martins match and reflect each other’s melodic development against spontaneity, particularly on their stark, haunting arrangement of Mitchell’s “Last Chance Lost” that leads into Beatles classic “Across the Universe,” as well as on Allen’s “Unconditional Love.” Foundational buoyancy enhances the record’s exploration of texture, nuanced and elemental. “Waking in the City,” Hamburger’s response to Angelou’s “Awaking in New York,” delivers a mood-casting drone that rapidly gains momentum. Hamburger serves a strong, soulful statement on her arrangement of Williams’s “What’s Your Story Morning Glory,” acknowledging the vastness of the Black female experience in music. On “Burning the Letters,” the flutist-composer’s instrumental tribute to Sylvia Plath, a channel-driving, reflexive energy evokes a depth of feeling on a vivacious, conversation-like improvisation.

“People outside of certain circles maybe don’t know as much about who Geri was and what she’s done for the music,” says Hamburger. “I just love the way she wrote. I love the way she played and the way she conceptualized music. I had to include her in this project. She’s one of those women who broke the boundary and said, ‘Fuck this. I’m gonna play. Get out of my way.’”

Rich transitions abound throughout “It Comes Unadorned,” Hamburger’s arrangement of Toni Morrison’s vivid verse. But the artist-composer’s most personal gesture memorializes the revolutionary life of her grandmother who fought for academic integrity under the Stroessner dictatorship in Paraguay. “I was blown away by her poems and stories,” says Hamburger, “by this art that I was connected to and how amazing it was and how much it resonated with me. She was the starting point [for this project].”

Through Hamburger’s skilled arrangements and creative interpretations of existing literary works, And She Spoke tells a series of stories that share an arc of resistance, grace, and grit. “It’s been a journey for sure,” she says. “That day in the studio was everything I had worked on for so long. And it’s a dream come true.”

ABOUT ALEX


Alex Hamburger. Photo by Joji Bronner and Emma Lurye.
DC area-born flutist, composer, and vocalist Alex Hamburger began touring at an early age. A young member of Paul Carr’s Jazz Academy of Washington, she received opportunities to perform all over the country with such noted artists as Randy Brecker, Javon Jackson, Warren Wolf, and Carmen Bradford. Though emerging in her career, Alex has played at a variety of venues around the East Coast such as Smalls, Birdland, The Blue Note, The Stone, Dizzy’s Club, Rockwood Music Hall, The Falcon, The Kennedy Center, Bohemian Caverns, Twins Jazz, and Zinc Bar as well as many venues and festivals internationally such as The Telluride Jazz Festival, The Vienna Jazz Festival, Basel Off Beat Jazz Festival, The Jazz Educators Network Conference, and The Washington Women in Jazz Festival. A highly sought collaborator with a distinctive vision, she has been part of a number of different projects, in addition to leading her own. Alex currently co-leads a duo project with José Luis Martins that released the 2019 EP Vapor Trails. In 2018, Alex received placement in the prestigious Focusyear band at the JazzCampus in Basel, Switzerland, where she lived, studied, and played alongside masters such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Seamus Blake, Billy Childs, Guillermo Kien, Dave Liebmann, Jorge Rossy, and Norma Winston. She is a 2021 recipient of the Chamber Music of America Performance Plus Grant, through which she and her quartet will have the chance to work alongside her mentor Ingrid Jensen.

Track listing:

1. Waking in the City (music by Alex Hamburger and lyrics by Maya Angelou)
2. La Desesperación es la Pasión Verdaderamente Humana (music by Alex Hamburger and lyrics by Ana Maria R. Codas)
3. Unconditional Love (by Geri Allen)
4. It Comes Unadorned (music by Alex Hamburger and lyrics by Toni Morrison)
5. What’s Your Story Morning Glory (by Mary Lou Williams)
6. Last Chance Lost (by Joni Mitchell and arranged by Alex Hamburger)
7. Across the Universe (by Lennon McCartney and arranged by José Luiz Martins)
8. Burning the Letters (by Alex Hamburger)

And She Spoke is available for purchase on Bandcamp. - DC Metro Theatre Arts

Fille d’artistes basés à Washington DC (les batteur et danseuse Andy et Maria Hamburger), Alex Hamburger débuta la flûte classique ses sept ans à peine sonnés. Bientôt élève de la Paul Carr’s Jazz Academy, elle se produisit toute jeune auprès de pointures telles que Randy Brecker, Warren Wolf et Javon Jackson, avant de migrer pour New-York, d’où elle commença par écumer les clubs de la Côte Est (depuis le Birdland jusqu’au Blue Note, en passant par le Kennedy Center), avant de se produire à l’international jusqu’au Vienna Jazz Festival, ou à celui de Bâle en Suisse. Bien qu’ayant déjà contribué à un album collectif durant ses années universitaires (ainsi qu’à un E.P. en duo avec son compagnon, le pianiste José Luiz Martins), c’est de Suisse qu’Alex Hamburger nous expédie à présent son tout premier opus solo, capté en une journée au JazzCampus Studio bâlois sous l’égide du master sound engineer Patrik Zosso. Conçues comme un hommage aux autrices et musiciennes qui pavèrent la voie à l’expression des femmes avant la sienne, les huit plages qui le composent (dont seule l’instrumentale et conclusive “Burning The Letters” s’avère de sa plume seule) se répartissent entre la mise en musique de poèmes de Maya Angelou et Toni Morrison (ainsi que de sa propre grand-mère maternelle, l’activiste paraguayenne Ana Maria R. Codas), et adaptations de titres de Geri Allen (“Unconditional Love”), Joni Mitchell (“Last Chance Lost”) et John Lennon (“Across The Universe”). En mode latin jazz alerte (les enthousiasmants “Waking In The City”, “Unconditional Love” et “It Comes Unadorned”), l’aérienne complicité de la flûte volubile d’Alex et de son chant avec le piano acoustique et le Fender Rhodes de Martins (ainsi que l’infaillible rythmique qu’impriment la contrebasse de Doug Weiss et le drumming délicat de Chase Kuesel) hissent ce premier essai au rang de coup de maître. Un album dont la spontanéité et la subtile sophistication révèlent de nouveaux trésors à chaque écoute.

Patrick Dallongeville
Paris-Move, Blues Magazine, Illico & BluesBoarder

PARIS-MOVE, November 21st 2021
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The daughter of Washington DC-based artists
(drummer and dancer Andy and Maria
Hamburger), Alex Hamburger debuted
classical flute when she was just seven years
old. Soon a student of Paul Carr's Jazz
Academy, she performed at a young age with
big names such as Randy Brecker, Warren
Wolf and Javon Jackson before migrating to
New York, from where she began by scouring
the clubs of the East Coast (from Birdland to
the Blue Note, via the Kennedy Center),
before performing internationally to the
Vienna Jazz Festival, or that of Basel in
Switzerland. Although having already
contributed to a collective album during her
university years (as well as to a duet EP with
her companion, pianist José Luiz Martins), it
is from Switzerland that Alex Hamburger now
sends us her very first solo opus, captured in
one day at the Basel JazzCampus Studio
under the aegis of master sound engineer
Patrik Zosso. Conceived as a tribute to the
authors and musicians who paved the way for
the expression of women before her own, the
eight tracks that compose it (of which only the
instrumental and concluding “Burning The
Letters” turn out to be from her pen alone)
split between the setting to music of poems
by Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison (as well
as by her own maternal grandmother, the
Paraguayan activist Ana Maria R. Codas),
and adaptations of titles by Geri Allen
(“Unconditional Love”), Joni Mitchell (“Last
Chance Lost”) and John Lennon (“Across The
Universe”). In alert Latin jazz mode (the
exciting “Waking In The City”, “Unconditional
Love” and “It Comes Unadorned”), the aerial
complicity of Alex's voluble flute and her
vocals with the acoustic piano and the Fender
Rhodes of Martins (as well as the infallible
rhythmic imprinted by Doug Weiss' double
bass and the delicate drumming of Chase
Kuesel) raise this first attempt to the rank of
master stroke. An album whose spontaneity
and subtle sophistication reveal new
treasures with each listening. - Paris- Move

Playing a rich flute and singing a bit, husky voiced Alex Hamburger brings in a flexible team of Jose Luiz Martins/p-key, Doug Weiss/b and Chase Kuesel/dr to interpret her own material and some clever Baby Boomer pieces. Of the latter, she’s quite bohemian on the artsy take of The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” and strirring with Weiss on Joni Mitchell’s “Last Chance Lost”. She gives a tribute to the dearly departed pianist Geri Allen, with her rich flute teaming up on a sophisticated read of “Unconditional Love” and goes a bit left of center on Mary Lou Williams’ “What’s Your Story Morning Glory”. Her own “La Deseperacion…” has some fragrant Asian harmonies teamed with poetry, while deeply bowed bass work blends with Hamburger’s dark flue on a fluid “Waking In The City”. Creative currents. - Jazz Weekly