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Alexandra Caselli
Alexandra began classical training on the piano at the age of 6. She received a B.A. degree in liberal arts (Plan II) from the University of Texas at Austin and went on to study music as a graduate student at North Texas State University in Denton. She began her career as a professional musician in South Lake Tahoe leading a trio in a weekly after-hours session where casino showroom players would come to sit in. Since that time Ms. Caselli played in a wide variety of situations in the Reno-Tahoe area ranging from solo piano bar to Top-40 groups and big bands. She played piano with the Tahoe Mini-Philharmonic Orchestra at Caesar’s featuring 2 pianos on Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals”. As part of the John Carlton Orchestra she backed up name artists in the Harrah’s Reno showroom including Rich Little, Bobby Vinton, Charo and Debbie Reynolds. Alexandra was synthesizer player for the Reno-Hilton revue “Branded” and pianist for the Harrah’s Tahoe Ice Show featuring Scott Hamilton and “Tai and Randy.” She also played in the major casinos as part of a duo performing all types of music- it was during that time she started singing background vocals and developed sequencing skills on the computer. Alexandra has been successfully freelancing in the Los Angeles area since 1991.
Alexandra has been successfully freelancing in the Los Angeles area since 1991. As a member of bass player/KTLA traffic reporter Jennifer York’s jazz quartet for 12 or so years, she played in numerous festivals including the Long Beach, Catalina, Hyatt Newporter and Pasadena Playboy Jazz Festivals. The all-female quartet opened for Poncho Sanchez, Steve Cole, John Tesh and Boney James among others. Ms. Caselli has played many shows locally and throughout the world including Little Anthony (of the Imperials), “Jerry’s Girls” featuring Kay Starr, and Elton John’s AIDA. Currently Alexandra works for several agencies, as well as accompanies at Pasadena City College. For the last twenty years she has been music director and keyboardist for St. Stephen’s of the Valley Lutheran Church. Not only does Alexandra enjoy performing and teaching, but she has completed five albums featuring her own compositions, arrangements and keyboard playing with a jazz combo.
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Alexandra Caselli: Rough Edges
by Edward Blanco
A rather inappropriate title for an album that is seemingly flawless with no discernable rough edges heard, Rough Edges is another blazing effort from pianist Alexandra Caselli and a pleasing one at that. A classically-trained pianist who began playing the instrument at the age of six, Caselli begins to reveal the depth of that training on the light ballad of Colors of The Rain" with a warm performance on the keys. Not only is Caselli an exceptional player, she's also ...
read moreAlexandra Caselli: Rough Edges
by Jack Bowers
This is the second CD I've reviewed by pianist Alexandra Caselli, and if there are any Rough Edges I've yet to hear them. As on that earlier album--Out the Aquarium (Moonjumpers 2, 2004)--Caselli plays with impeccable style and unerring tastefulness, affirming this writer's previous comparison to another remarkable pianist, the celebrated and seemingly ageless Marian McPartland.
Whereas Aquarium was strictly a trio session, Caselli has chosen to enlarge the group this time, bolstering her core trio (bassist Jennifer Leitham, drummer ...
read moreAlexandra Caselli: Out the Aquarium
by C. Michael Bailey
With a cosmopolitan name like Alexandra Caselli, how can one go wrong? Add to that great name the classical heritage of Muzio Clementi, the impressionistic philosophy of Lynne Arriale (by way of Bill Evans), and a great ear for melody, and you have the total package that is Ms. Caselli. Out The Aquarium is Caselli's new recording. She has previously been associated with the Jennifer York Trio and quartet. The pianist is equally adept at electric and acoustic jazz, with ...
read more“She’s an absolutely marvelous pianist, and if there’s any justice in this world we’ll be hearing much more from her.... I won’t even try to explain what makes Caselli so special, but I believe I know an exemplary player when I hear one, and I’ve heard one here.” —Jack Bowers “Pianist Caselli, classically trained, who also writes some of the band’s original music, is a delight at the piano, creating moods with her mellow ballad stylings, setting the pace with bop, or for whatever is the call of the moment.” —Bob Agnew, L.A