Mack Avenue Signs Joey Alexander

By DownBeat I Mar. 8, 2022

“*Origin* represents a turning point for me,” said Joey Alexander of his new recording on Mack Avenue.
(Photo: Courtesy Mack Avenue)

Mack Avenue Music Group has signed Joey Alexander. The pianist’s label debut, Origin — his first album of all original compositions — is slated for a spring release.

A child prodigy who taught himself to play jazz at age 6, Alexander came to the attention of international audiences when he won the Grand Prix at the 2014 Master-Jam Fest as a 9-year-old. A year later, he played Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis and released his first album, My Favorite Things, on Mótema. That album was nominated for two Grammys, making him the youngest Grammy nominee ever.

Alexander, now 18, is stepping out as a composer and bandleader as well as a virtuoso pianist. “These past years have been especially trying for everyone, including those of us who didn’t know when we would ever perform for live audiences again,” Alexander said. “Origin represents a turning point for me — the time when I decided to turn frustration into an opportunity to truly express myself and to rise above the circumstances.”

The new album will feature saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Larry Grenadier, drummer Kendrick Scott and guitarist Gilad Hekselman. DB