Alex Veley is a world-renowned rock and soul keyboardist and singer from the United States. His heartfelt playing, soulful singing, and legendary live stage performances have become extremely well-known in musical circles.
Born in Eugene, Oregon in 1973, Alex was raised in a “creative arts” family as the son of both a music teacher and an art teacher. Upon graduating from high school in 1991, Alex moved to Seattle, Washington to attend college at the University of Washington. He soon chased after his love of music by diving head first into the city’s burgeoning alternative music scene.
As a member of Seattle’s preeminent 1990’s neo-soul band, Maktub, with lead vocalist Reggie Watts, he helped revolutionize post-grunge Seattle music by forging a new aesthetic that favored vintage keyboards and electronica over the traditional heavy, guitar-based rock that had come to define the Seattle sound.
His career as a session man has included recording with artists as diverse as Arkansas Delta bluesman CeDell Davis, providing keyboards on his critically acclaimed album, When Lightnin’ Struck the Pine, as well as South-African born singer-songwriter Dave Matthews, playing Hammond organ on his Grammy award-winning solo album, Some Devil.
In 2003, Alex accepted an invitation to move to South America to record and tour with Brazilian rock legend, Nando Reis. Alex’s contribution to the Brazilian music scene has been significant, having since recorded with several different artists, with Erasmo Carlos, Cassia Eller, and Gilberto Gil among his credits. His ongoing collaboration with Nando Reis has resulted in over ten albums, spawning numerous radio hits, and culminating in a Latin Grammy for “Best Brazilian Rock Album” with the release of Jardim Pomar in 2017.
Alex continues to live and work as a musician and artist in Rio de Janeiro with his wife, Tereza, and his daughter, Adriana.