Vocalist Sara Serpa‘s career track is a road less traveled in today’s jazz world. Many singers are beholden to the past, choosing to express themselves through the standards of yesteryear, while trying to recreate the sound of the great crooners, whether it be Sinatra, Holiday, or Fitzgerald. Serpa, originally from Lisbon, Portugal, not only does not limit herself to old material, but has an approach closer to that of an instrumentalist instead of a chanteuse. Her intriguing sound will be on display tonight at Blues Alley.

“It’s not the most avant-garde stuff, but usually I don’t sing with words,” Serpa told DCist in a recent interview. “It’s really about landscapes, and events that happened in my life.”

After studying classical piano from age 7, Serpa enrolled in college to follow a career in social work. Upon graduating, she encountered musicians who were studying jazz at Lisbon’s Conservatory of Music. With their encouragement, she enrolled in a 5-week program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, eventually landing a scholarship to study music full time. After studying at Berklee for a year, she went on to receive a Master’s in Jazz Performance from the prestigious New England Conservatory, graduating in 2008. Serpa then moved to New York, and is making a name for herself in the Big Apple’s colorful jazz scene.

“It takes a while to get used to all the vibrant energy, but I feel very inspired and very challenged,” she said of her New York experience.