Jenni Alpert
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jenni Alpert (née ''Cameron Morantz'') is an American
singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...
, guitarist, and pianist.


Career

Alpert's early independent releases include: 2005: ''Pieces.'' 2007'': 27 Minutes in Bologna'' - a live vocal and piano set recorded in Italy. 2008'': No Second Guesses'', which received radio play in the Netherlands and led to an invitation to do a series of live radio shows. 2010: ''Underneath the Surface,'' an album that features musicians including Jimmy Paxson (drummer for Stevie Nicks and Ben Harper), Lenny Castro (percussion for John Mayer), Chris Chaney, Zac Rae, and Stevie Blacke. 2012: Her album ''Take It All'' was released. 2013: ''Shining Light'' was Alpert's first vinyl record, another live performance recorded in Italy. 2015: ''Until Then,'' her most recent work, released by S-Curve Records. Her music has been featured on US TV shows like ABC's ''
Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
'', CBS's ''
CSI Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural television series that aired on CBS from September 23, 2002, to April 8, 2012. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Detective ...
'', and MTV's '' The Real World'', ''
Teen Mom ''Teen Mom'' (renamed ''Teen Mom OG'', starting with the fifth season) is an American reality television series broadcast by MTV. It is the first spin-off of ''16 and Pregnant'', and it focuses on the lives of several young mothers as they na ...
'' and ''
16 and Pregnant ''16 and Pregnant'' is an American reality television series that aired from June 11, 2009, to July 1, 2014, on the cable channel MTV. It followed the stories of pregnant teenage girls in high school dealing with the hardships of teenage pregna ...
''. After releasing her first independent album on iTunes, Alpert was selected to record her song "Untied" by the Sun Studio Sessions for PBS at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. She later recorded a collection of acoustic performances live in Italy. While touring independently, Alpert collaborated with guitarist Guthrie Trapp in Nashville, Tennessee, to record new songs. These recordings attracted the attention of
S-Curve Records S-Curve Records is an American record label founded in 2000 by former Mercury Records executive Steve Greenberg. It is based in New York City. In 2001 the label established a distribution and licensing agreement with EMI Records. Among the hit ...
, who she later signed a licensing deal with. She then released the album ''Until Then'' under the record label.


Early life and family

Alpert was born in Los Angeles and
adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
when she was four. While spending time in various
foster homes Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member ...
, she began to sing and play the piano. She received a scholarship to attend UCLA in the
Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...
Department, where she took part in Kenny Burrell's four-year jazz program.


Birth father

Alpert hired a private investigator to help her find her father. She and her father went on to collaborate on a number of musical and artistic projects. Alpert wrote a memoir about her experience finding her biological father and collaborating with him on music.


Homeless: The Soundtrack

A short documentary about Alpert's relationship with her father, called ''Homeless: the Soundtrack'', was filmed and edited by director Irene Taylor Brodsky. It received a Jury Award at
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
, won best short film at
Nantucket Film Festival The Nantucket Film Festival is a film festival founded in 1996 which focuses on screenwriting. Board members include Donick Cary, Nancy Dubuc, Nancy Dubac, Chris Matthews, Kathleen Matthews, Ben Stiller, and Tom Scott (American businessperson), ...
, was screened at the Laemmle Royal Theater in West Los Angeles, and was shortlisted for an IDA award in the short documentary category.


Other activities

Alpert founded the nonprofit Fine Arts Revolution Inc. Fine Arts Revolution Inc. offers wellness programs using the creative arts, services to unhoused communities, and to those in transition. She also started a traveling audiovisual festival called Art of Expression to bring together musicians who support music programs in early childhood education. She supports nonprofits, the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission and the Celia Center, both which respectively assist homeless people and people who have been either fostered or adopted. Alpert has also performed for America's Blood Centers.


Discography

* ''Biological Reunion'' (2018) * ''Nothing Less'' (2016) * ''Until Then'' (2015, S-Curve Records) * ''Shining Light Vinyl'' (2014) * ''Take it All'' (2012) * ''Underneath the Surface'' (2010) * ''No Second Guesses'' (2008) * ''27 Minutes in Bologna'' (2007) * ''Pieces'' (2005) * ''Honest Smile'' (1999)


Publications

* ''Home is Where the Heart is, An Adoption and Biological Reunion Story: A Memoir''. (2021, self-published; ).


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpert, Jenni American women singer-songwriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Singers from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American women musicians