Jazz Articles about Alex Jenkins

About Alex Jenkins

Album Review

An initial spin of Sacramento-based drummer Alex Jenkins' Black Bird--recorded by the Alex Jenkins Trio (AJT)--brings saxophonist Sonny Rollins' A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1958) to mind. Rollins rolled in the trio mode for these 1957 Vanguard shows with just his saxophone, bass and drums. Going on stage in 1957 without a chording instrument--a guitar or piano--was unusual. The album was considered groundbreaking. Now the pared-down trio format is common, for good reason--dropping the necessity of chasing ...

Album Review

Alex Jenkins Trio: Tri-Cycle

Read "Tri-Cycle" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 17, 2021

The Alex Jenkins Trio, out of Sacramento, California, has a forthright, muscular sound. Sax, bass and drums--things boiled down to the essentials. Tri-Cycle, Jenkins' second trio recording presents music in an uncluttered style, opens the show with the cool pop and bubble of Jenkin's original, “Scarlet Lullaby." Jenkins drumming style--on a drum kit here, but, much influenced by his studies of the tabla--is busy and unsubtle on this tune in the best possible way-- no whispering brushes or ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with Alex Jenkins

by AAJ Staff
September 1, 2021

Meet Alex Jenkins Alex Jenkins has always been a student of the world, especially its music. Well versed in music styles eastern and western, traditional and contemporary, Alex's sound transcends both traditions and boundaries. His expression of rhythm is most heavily influenced by his study of the tabla, a North Indian classical percussion instrument. This has helped him develop a uniquely creative approach to music and an innate ability to fuse rhythmic styles from various disciplines into one cohesive sound. ...