Born in Germany and raised across continents, Amana Melome’ is a Euro-Caribbean-American singer-songwriter whose life story is inseparable from music. She comes from one of the most distinguished jazz lineages in modern history. Her grandfather, Jimmy Woode, the youngest musician ever hired by Duke Ellington, performed with Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, and many of jazz’s greatest innovators. Her grandmother was a respected jazz vocalist, her father remains an active Caribbean musician on the European scene, and her aunt, Shawnn Monteiro, is a renowned jazz singer. Music is not simply Amana’s heritage; it is her native tongue.
After returning to the United States for college and earning her BA from NYU, Amana moved to Los Angeles to pursue her own artistic path. There she met producer Saverio “Sage” Principini, with whom she recorded her debut album, Indigo Red, and her follow-up, Phoenix Rising. The projects feature world-class musicians such as Vinnie Colaiuta, Reggie Hamilton, and Alessandro Alessandroni, whose contributions helped shape the lush, soulful, and globally informed sound she has become known for.
Indigo Red received an independent U.S. release through Savana Records and made history as the first album ever distributed by Whole Foods Market. The record was later released in Europe on IRMA Records in 2008. While promoting the album in Italy, Amana was cast as a lead role playing herself on the country’s most popular national sitcom, Un Medico in Famiglia. This unexpected visibility launched her into the international spotlight.
Her live résumé is just as expansive. Amana has headlined festivals and
high-profile events across the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia.
She has performed for global luxury brands including Fendi, Antinori,
Robert Mondavi, and Christian Dior.
With a sound that moves easily between jazz, nu-soul, folk, and world music,
her performances have become known for their
emotional elegance and cross-cultural resonance.
After years of nonstop touring,
Amana shifted her focus toward motherhood and family life,
while also reconnecting with her longtime love of visual art.
This period of stillness deepened her creative philosophy,
which holds that music, art, and movement are all expressions of
the same inner truth. Multicultural, multilingual, and
multidisciplinary, she creates with the intention of reminding
audiences of their interconnectedness, a through-line that has
defined every chapter of her career.
Now, Amana returns with Recalibration, her first full-length
album in several years. Recorded between Los Angeles and
Italy, the project marks a powerful new era for the artist,
one shaped by reflection, resilience, and renewal.
Rooted in her family’s jazz legacy yet expanded
by her global identity, Recalibration
brings together themes of inner strength,
healing, and spiritual clarity.
