From a record producer, a hugely respected jazz drummer to a talented young musician and a successful local entertainer; however they were also all men. Today I will try and redress the balance just a little by featuring an incredibly talented woman singer/musician who is based here in Majorca.
Soaking up musical experiences
Alejandra Burgos was born in Argentina into a musical family, but has lived here in Majorca for more than a decade now. Her father is also musician, guitarist and a singer, so she was brought up on music and from a young girl she knew that music was in her blood. She followed her father to many gigs pressuring him to teach her to play… “We travelled together around Buenos Aires and soon I was part of the act…a father and daughter duet.”
Alejandra’s story is not one of instant success as is often bestowed on ‘pop princesses’ - but built on soaking up musical experience both in her home city of Buenos Aires and then further afield.
Even at the beginning of her career she was honoured by a number of musical awards in her home country - but, as is often the case with the seriously talented, she wanted to spread her musical wings into Europe and beyond. I wondered if it was hard for her to establish herself here in Majorca? “It was, but I enjoyed it. I used to busk outside of Palma Cathedral for hours and days on end, but it was worthwhile I guess.”
As I talked to Alejandra over a coffee near to her home in Palmanova, she positively glowed with enthusiasm at what she had achieved so far in her career and hopefully what she could achieve in the future.
A force of nature!
Nevertheless, perhaps I’m getting rather ahead of myself, because during this time Alejandra was also busy as the ‘supporting artiste’ in European tour slots for talent such as Anastacia and Gloria Gaynor, plus bands that included Alice Cooper. In terms of stlye, she is much more of an out-and-out rocker, with a mean-streak of blues and a touch of jazz in her repertoire - as perhaps indicated by her love of Etta James, Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse to name just three! “My dad just loves The Beatles and Elvis Presley, so they are always in the back of my mind musically.” What instruments do you play? I asked her. “Well, I play guitar, some keyboard and various percussion instruments plus, I compose and record some of my own music, rather than just relying totally on covering other peoples work.”
Since making Majorca her ‘home’ base Alejandra has travelled and worked extensively throughout Europe and I suspected that this pandemic has frustrated her professionally and when I mentioned it - she smiled at me a little ruefully and her body language spoke volumes - as in, “What can you do?” At 37 years of age (don’t worry reader, I did ask permission!) she looks 10 years younger - and if you should catch up with her performing live, or check out her website - you will not be surprised at that at all.
Face to face, Alejandra is both charming and bursting with enthusiasm for what she does and rather than the force-of-nature you will see on stage or in her video features, she is also both cool, contemplative - and very attractive.
Zone Sisters
As we talk about her career path so far, it became quickly very obvious that it has been multi-layered to a large degree. Touring as a support band/artiste at large scale European gigs - some of which have been held in Majorca, to working in some of the clubs in Palma and beyond. As I mentioned before, Alejandra is nothing if not creative in the way she works within her music. For instance she has created with her sister a band called ‘Zone Sisters’ which again neatly fits into a musical niche that many musicians can’t really aspire to.
If you get the impression that family matters a lot to Alejandra, you’d clearly be right - as her father and siblings are to the fore in all we talked about.
Talent to burn
I confess that a perceptive and musically minded friend of mine, had told me about the extremely talented Alejandra Burgos on a number of occasions in the past - and I for one am glad that he took the time to impress on me how talented this lady is.
Indeed, rather than those okay but ‘bog standard’ karaoke queens, Ms Burgos has talent to burn in many styles and genres of music. I found a very complimentary remark about Alejandra in my research for this article - “She has a magical and positive energy which takes her all around the world, with great feedback from audiences and other artistes alike.” Now based in Majorca and in a long term relationship, Alejandra like most talented musicians, still seems to crave an audience and this lockdown has not helped the live music industry in any shape or form - anywhere in the world. One thing is for sure though, her vivacity and talent is not a gift that will just disappear, so when this pandemic is over in any small part, look out for some of the Majorcan gigs that Alejandra Burgos will be fronting during the late autumn and winter. You will not be disappointed.
Check-out /Google - Alejandra Burgos’ website for more information and details for upcoming gigs.
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