Jazz Articles about Eric Alexander

About Eric Alexander

Liner Notes

As the timeworn adage goes, sometimes the best things come from situations where one is asked to function in less than ideal circumstances. When you have little time to analyze things and go with pure instincts, there's an air of veracity and spontaneity to the results that is seldom arrived at by any other means. Although the hard bop collective One For Allhas forged a shared identity through regular gigs and a growing catalog of recordings for several labels, including ...

Liner Notes

One For All: Live at Smoke Vol.1

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 13, 2024

Aside from the musical fireworks that make the enclosed sides noteworthy, there are additional factors that mark Live at Smoke as a major event. For one thing, this “on location" recording is one of the rare live dates to grace the Criss Cross catalog. Furthermore, it serves as a perfect summation up to this point of One For All's musical fortunes as heard in the same venue that fostered the ensemble's very formation. Back in the mid-'80s, drummer Joe Farnsworth, ...

Album Review

Xaver Hellmeier: X-Man in New York

Read "X-Man in New York" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 25, 2024

Drummer Xaver (X-Man) Hellmeier has been little known to date outside his native Germany and other European countries. One way to help redress that oversight is to surround oneself with some of the most well-respected and talented musicians on the New York scene, which is what Hellmeir has done on his superb debut album, X-Man in New York. When it comes to choosing sidemen, it is hard to belie the inclusion of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, pianist ...

Album Review

Bernie Senensky: Moment to Moment

Read "Moment to Moment" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 11, 2024

Canadian pianist Bernie Senensky's latest album, Moment to Moment, encompasses two quartet sessions recorded almost twenty years apart: the first in 2001, the second (live) in 2020. While the rhythm sections differ on each, the one constant (aside from Senensky) is the acclaimed tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. If you are planning to have only one constant, Alexander is by any measure a superlative choice. Alexander, whose solos are models of creativity and eloquence, seems to light a ...

Album Review

Bernie Senensky: Moment to Moment

Read "Moment to Moment" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
December 25, 2023

Bernie Senensky is a nuanced and adaptable pianist. Throughout his career he has shown an unparalleled improvisational approach to the material he chooses that crosses borders and generations. In this current release, entitled Moment to Moment, the music comes from two performance opportunities, from 2001 and 2020, and is anchored simultaneously historically and from the future. Joining Senensky in this back-to-the-future encounter are tenor saxophonist {[Eric Alexander}}, bassists Kieran Overs and Dave Young, as well as drummers Joe Farnsworth and ...

Liner Notes

David Hazeltine: Inversions

by C. Andrew Hovan
April 30, 2023

It's often said that those with enviable skills make the most sophisticated actions look easy. Be it glass blowing or ice-skating, what appears to be within the grasp of the novice often involves an underlying complexity not readily apparent at first. The same could be said of higher forms of music such as classical and jazz. What might seem simplistic or straightforward on the surface, actually involves a highly refined degree of mastery that's akin to a magician's flick of ...

Liner Notes

David Hazeltine: Blues Quarters, Vol.2

by C. Andrew Hovan
April 29, 2023

A lot of water has passed under the proverbial bridge since the last time that David Hazeltine got together with Eric Alexander for the initial 1998 session billed as Blues Quarters Vol.1 (Criss 1188). As strong a showing as the pianist and his cohorts made on that initial release, I think all would agree this latest incarnation is even better, imbued with a maturation and musical camaraderie that has further developed due to countless numbers of gigs undertaken in the ...