Rodney Alejandro


Rodney Alejandro is an American musician, composer, arranger, producer and audio engineer raised in Houston, Texas. A child of a Mexican-American mother and African-American father, Alejandro's bi-cultural background set the tone for his career in music. A product of Houston's inner city neighborhoods, Alejandro grew up in the barrios and ghettos that would enrich his consciousness. Living on the east side, he tasted all the spices of Salsa music, Tejano and life lessons told through Mariachi music. Attending schools in Houston's 5th ward, he was heavily influenced by the sweet sounds of soul, intimacy of jazz and hard hits of hip hop. From an early age music was all around, and his diverse influences only help broaden his music appreciation and creative palette.

Early life

(1987–1995)

Alejandro's professional career began as a senior in high school, with the co-founding of Tejano-pop band Valentino. Valentino was led by David Flores, who departed another Houston band called . Alejandro joined the band on keyboards, having taught himself after saving a year to buy his first keyboard, an Ensoniq ESQ-1. He quickly mastered the synthesizer and its capabilities, but his music technique was limited. Texas musician gave him lessons not only on technique but playing in the Tejano style. Technology was fast becoming the norm in music and Alejandro took the opportunity to learn about MIDI, sequencing, sampling, and other digital technologies available at the time. His keyboard arsenal grew to include an E-mu Emax, Roland R-8 drum machine and a Yamaha C1 music computer, one of the first MS-DOS computers made to run music software. Valentino was known throughout the state as the most electronic band in Tejano, in a genre where traditional instruments of drums, bass, guitars, and accordions were the norm. The band would perform concert using these various technologies, midi sequencing backing tracks, triggering audio samples, and blending electronic pop sounds with the tradition Tejano arrangements. Rodney's reputation grew as a skilled music programmer, and he continued to work on his performance technique. But the calls came to help other artist in their quest to incorporate electronic instruments. Valentino toured in the Tejano circuit with great artist like , Groupo Mazz, Selena y Los Dinos, La Sombra, and La Mafia to name a few. During these travel he connected with many great musicians and began to collaborate on other projects. A.B. Quintanilla III asked Rodney to come work with Selena contributing arrangement and production services on her song "Amame", on the Entre Mi Mundo project. Tony Guerrero of La Sombra from Chicago, asked Rodney to sequence and program sounds for their projects, and a solo project by the lead singer Gavino Guerrero. Albert "Tiger" Diaz, another singer in the group, recorded a solo project and he too hired Alejandro for arranging and keyboard programing. These relationships would lead to further collaboration many years later.
Valentino continued to perform, but making the crossover to more Latin American pop music market. They performed original bilingual pop songs recorded at in Houston. Traveling to LA, they worked with producers Michael Sembello, and , on demos pursuing a record deal. In 1992, Valentino performed on Buscando Estrellas, the Latin version of the American show Star Search, and won in the band category. "Vamos A Bailar" was a song written by Alejandro, the group used to win with. That trip to LA introduced him to other artist one being Coyote of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rodney contributed a bi-lingual song called "Mas Dura" to their effort on the American show, Star Search. The band went on to win the season finale and signed to Capitol/EMI Latino. Their first single was "Bien Dura", a full Spanish version of the original bilingual song. Unknowingly, Alejandro became the only songwriter to win Star Search in Spanish and English. In 1992, Valentino signed a record deal with BMG International. Alejandro contributed 8 of the 10 tracks record for the album and project was released in 1993. While in the studio, Rodney met Jamie Glaser, a guitarist who mentioned the value of his Berklee education. Being self-taught in pop music got him only so far, so Rodney set his sights on Berklee College of Music. Upon returning to Houston from LA, Alejandro enrolled at a local community college to pursue his education and music professional goals.

(1995–1997)

Having completed basic requirement course at , he then transferred to in June 1995. Summer semester was his first, carrying a full course load, his objective was to get in and get out. By the end of summer he took a job in the school's work study program. He was assigned to the where he worked as a stage hand, and later as sound engineer for college functions and various professional concerts. This allowed him to stay and complete a degree program. He chose a dual degree program in Music Production and Engineering and Contemporary Writing and Production. His previous experience in professional music would help him throughout the journey. With each passing semester, he garnered more scholarship funds, and was awarded the Ticketmaster Award for Excellence. 1n 1997, Rodney completed his studies graduating Summa cum laude and received the Production Scholar of the Year from the MP&E dept. and Outstanding Excellence from the CW&P dept. See Education below for further details.

Career

(1997–2001)

After graduating, Rodney headed to San Francisco with one connection. During his time at Berklee, he maintain a professional relationship with producer Preston Glass. Preston introduced Rodney to 3x Grammy Winner Narada Michael Walden the previous summer. Landing in SF, Rodney contacted Narada but there was no place for him in his camp at the time. Rodney pursued other avenues and worked as a stage hand to make ends. After 2 months he got a message Narada was now looking for a staff music programmer. Rodney reconnected with Narada and his first assignment to prove himself was a project for Diana Ross. Narada approved of his work and hired Rodney on staff in Oct 1997. During his tenure with Narada Michael Walden, Rodney worked with some of today greatest artist and legends. Sessions include artist and musicians, Ray Charles, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Sammy Hagar, En Vogue, Tamia, Debelah Morgan, Winans Phase 2, My Town, Jerry Hey, Wyclef Jean, Wild Orchid, Shanice Wilson, Jaci Velasquez, Take 6, Yolanda Adams, and Father Guido Sarducci amongst many others. In 1998, Rodney became a staff producer with Narada, contributing to many recordings as an Associate Producer. Rodney also joined Narada on various live performance events. In which Rodney performed with Stevie Wonder, Chucho Valdez, Sam Moore, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, The Impressions, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, to name a few. Narada's show of love is giving people nicknames. After a session one day, Rodney acquired the name "Cortada". On every project completed with Narada he is credited with that moniker. It since has been added to various credits though Rodney has been independent since 2001. Highlights from Rodney's time at Tarpon Studios in San Rafael, CA under the super producer Narada Michael Walden.
In 2001, Rodney made the move to Los Angeles and officially launched SweetSpot Entertainment,Inc. His company would be the headquarters for all his music production, live performance and music publishing activities. While still cultivating his English music contacts, he began to make new connections for the Spanish music market. He would team up with , and Nir Seroussi to begin writing for various project. He also worked with , Adrianne Gonzalez, Gerard McMahon, Frankie J, Maria Conchita Alonso, Tina Moore, Siedah Garrett, Corbin Blue, Raven-Symoné, Paulina Rubio, Phoebe Snow, Roger Daltrey, Lee Sklar, Michael Landau, The Script, amongst many other artist and provided music for film and TV productions. Here are some highlights from his work with SweetSpot Entertainment,Inc.

(2002)