The fundamentals â a golden, full-throated, multi-octave voice, a deep well of soulful feeling, and a rare ability to connect with the story of the lyric and bring it to life â are evident throughout the sensational young singer MâLisa Alonsoâs debut.

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URBAN/R&B: R&B Pop Crossover, URBAN/R&B: Soul



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The fundamentals â a golden, full-throated, multi-octave voice, a deep well of soulful feeling, and a rare ability to connect with the story of the lyric and bring it to life â are evident throughout the sensational young singer MâLisa Alonsoâs debut album, MâLisa Alonso.

We hear her sultriness as well as her playfulness, her sophisticated yet carefree essence, her confidence and her vulnerability, and a spiritual subtext that can be discerned even in the sensuous intimations that may have come to MâLisa from her fatherâs Spanish lineage.

But thereâs more.

This extraordinary debut isnât just a showcase for MâLisaâs talent. It is, from start to finish, an experience beyond the surface of the music. Whether flaunting her assertive yet seductive appeal on âWastinâ Timeâ and âLip Service,â whispering a come-hither call on âOverrated,â or expressing a simple love for enjoying what life has to offer on âEverydayâs the Weekend,â MâLisaâs message is clear.

She is what she sings. Her personality, like our awareness of her gifts as a performer and interpreter, grow through the course of our listening. And once heard and seen she is impossible to forget.

Some of this comes from a childhood spent on the road, never settling long in one place but tasting constantly what each station on her journey had to offer. Her father was â and still is â a pastor with a preference for ministering on the move. As a result the family moved far and wide, and MâLisa grew up calling wherever she happened to be home, from Kansas, California, Illinois, New York and points between and beyond.

âI look back at it now and Iâm thankful that I got to experience these places,â she says. âWhen youâre young it can be difficult to adapt to new environments, but Iâve always been the kind of person that can go with whatâs dealt to me and see the best in it.â

Her travels ended eventually in Orlando, Florida, her home for the past 11 years. She arrived with a fully developed knack for adapting to changes and challenges, a winning combination of looks and personality that drew people naturally to her, and most important, a musical sensibility that was rooted in the church but flavored by her Spanish roots and an openness to new music, wherever it came to her attention.

âI grew up liking to be the center of attention,â MâLisa says, laughing. âI definitely love to be in front of people and Iâve always loved to sing. But then one day, when I was 12 and singing in my dadâs church, I had an a cappella solo on âAmazing Grace.â My dad stopped me and asked me to sing it again.

He listened real carefully, and then he said, âWhat just happened? Youâre a little girl, but youâre singing like a woman!ââ

Her father may have been surprised as this sudden flowering in her performance, but he reacted quickly and supportively. âHe told me, âGet out there and sing it again!ââ she remembers. âAnd right after that he bought me The Bodyguard soundtrack by Whitney Houston and said, âListen to this. You are going to love her.ââ

MâLisa did indeed love Whitney â and also Joss Stone, Christina Aguilera, Gladys Knight and a wide range of singers who inspired her as she found her own identity. Developing her stage persona through school and community theater, MâLisa was ready to dedicate her life to making music by the time sheâd entered high school.

âThere was no other option,â she insists. âBy the time I was 15 I knew I would be a singer. Thatâs what I was made to do.â

MâLisa began to perform in clubs throughout Orlando and beyond. Yet even as she expanded her base, her musical home remained her fatherâs church, where she continued to sing â and where she made an important professional connection.

Thomas Michael Dale, recently relocated from a busy session career in Detroit, had taken over as music director for Saturday evening services. A mutual respect and working relationship grew immediately between the transplanted producer and the future star.

âMâLisa sang just a couple of verses and I was hooked,â Dale recalls. âEventually we got really comfortable with each other, so the idea of doing an album together was really a no-brainer.â

Aside from heralding the arrival of a sensational new talent, the fruit of their labor, MâLisa Alonso, proved a turning point for MâLisa in stimulating her songwriting. Up to the beginning of her work with Dale, she hadnât thought much about doing original material.

âI had worked with producers in the past who insisted on writing for me,â she says. âI never got to be part of the process. The problem is that I like to be involved in developing the songs I sing. So when Tom gave me a lot of creative control and asked for my input, it was awesome.â

MâLisa focused mainly on lyrics and melody in the early stages of MâLisa Alonso, with Dale adding chords and arrangements. By the time theyâd gathered a group of musicians culled from her band and from Orlandoâs top session players, their collaboration had become seamless and their results consistently successful in combining the accessible with the personal, the universal with something unique to this emerging artist.

Vocally, the key to MâLisaâs performance is her ability to adapt her range and unforgettable sound to the stories told in each song. âI love to interpret each song,â she says. âTo do that, I have to pull from a different place. Thatâs why Iâm totally in character, so to speak, from the moment I step into the studio. I have the big picture in my mind, I know who the woman in the song is, and I see in my mind how Iâm going to build from that.â

But thereâs something even subtler in her approach. Itâs in her motivation for singing in the first place, which comes from a place thatâs more about service than even stardom. Maybe thatâs a byproduct of being raised in the church. Certainly it reflects in her mentoring of young girls through a church program called Adrenaline; even as her schedule fills with sessions and shows, MâLisa keeps every Wednesday night open for this commitment.

âWhether Iâm spending Wednesday nights with Adrenaline or singing in a spotlight, I do it because I want to share the gifts that God has given me,â MâLisa sums up. âThatâs why I do what I do: Itâs about living out a purpose.â

She means it. You feel it. And the magic of MâLisa is already changing the world, heart to heart, song by song.

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