Becoming by Alex Gao is a musical portrait of an Asian – American woman in her 20s, a decade often called golden but rarely simple. It lives in the space between who she was expected to be and who she is still unfolding into.
Through reimagined covers and original music of fusing pop/jazz/world music (and a surprise element of avant-garde), each song becomes a point of transformation; from seeming into Becoming.
Featuring Francisco Mela
Francisco Mela is a favorite among jazz’s elite instrumentalists, including McCoy Tyner, Joe Lovano, Kenny Barron, Quincy Jones, John Scofield, Cooper-Moore, William Parker, Ingrid Laubrock, Gary Bartz, Bobby Watson, and Chucho Valdés. He moved to Boston in 2000 and quickly began thereafter at Berklee College of Music. Mela rapidly made a name for himself on the Boston scene, becoming the house drummer at the legendary Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club. It was at Wally’s that Mela began developing a concept for his own band, one that would feature the sounds of modern jazz with the traditional music he grew up with in Cuba.
Drums: Carter Hadcock | Special Guest Artist: Francisco Mela
Bass Guitar: Koji Muraishi
Guitar: Gabriel Jonas Montigny
Keys: Abraham Aruna