Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
Pianist Joey Alexander recently performed at the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival in June alongside bassist Kris Funn and drummer Jonathan Pinson.
(Photo: Courtesy of Artist)His method for developing his musicianship also was simple. “The more I listened, the more I played,” he remembered. “My dad would have me listen to records and follow along. I tried to feel like I was playing with that group on the record. That helped me listen and interact with other musicians around me when I did start playing live. So, for me, it wasn’t just about technique. To learn this music, I had to learn to communicate. That’s what jazz is, to me.”
In addition to his playing, Eclipse documents Alexander’s growth as a composer. He wrote six of its 11 cuts and—to make sure bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland had internalized them by the time they tracked—he booked three dates with them just before heading into Dreamland Recording Studios in Hurley, New York. But when he brought Joshua Redman in to record “The Very Thought Of You” as a duo, his approach differed.
“This was the first time we ever played together,” Alexander explained. “I chose this one because it’s one of my favorite ballads. I have other favorites as well, but I wanted to try this one out. We rehearsed it only one time. He really listened and got the feel right away. I’m really thankful that that song is on the album.”
Since his 2015 debut, My Favorite Things (Motéma), Alexander has reached a position few musicians achieve: being informed equally by youth and experience. With this perspective, Alexander can reflect on what he might have sacrificed, as well as achieved, to reach this crossroads.
“There are some challenges,” he acknowledged. “It’s not that easy to be in jazz, especially being young. Sometimes, people don’t take your music seriously. Sometimes, they look only at how young you are and how good you are being young. But that’s the path I’ve been given. I’m just grateful to be able to play for people everywhere I go.” DB
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
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In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.
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“The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”
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In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
