Artist Feature | Alex Navarro

What first drew you to music and songwriting?

I feel like I was always drawn to music, but my first desire to take piano lessons was when I first heard the pianist at this church we started attending when I was about 7. I knew enough about music to realize she was playing much more than what was notated in the hymnal and I wanted to know, learn and understand what she was doing! I began experimenting a couple of years later with creating and composting my own melodies.

Who or what has had the biggest influence on you as a songwriter?

Growing up, I would say church music was a big influence, the harmonic structures and patterns of hymns. As far as artists, I was a big Billy Joel fan in my teen years. Funny story, the first record I had of his was his greatest hits, but something was off with the speed of my mom's record player, and I learned the tunes all a half step higher because of the record player speed.

If you could only listen to five albums for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Glenn Gould's 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations

Miles Davis - 1958 Miles

Brad Mehldau - Largo

The Beatles - Revolver

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions

Tell us about where you draw your inspiration from.

I try to draw inspiration from life...people, experiences, nature, objects, and the world around me.

What does your creative process/rhythm look like?
I feel the most creative when I set boundaries or conditions on my creative process, for example, only playing a three note ostinato as an accompaniment or hook, playing in an uncomfortable key, or sitting down at the piano to start creating when I know I have to leave in a few minutes.

What are you working on now?

I just finished arranging a suite of Christmas Carols for the Houston Jazz Orchestra. It was a lot of fun because I approached the arranging by writing in a ways you don't always hear a big band play. Look for it on iTunes and Spotify!

You can learn more about Alex and find all of his music at AlexNavarro.com.