Jazz Articles about Joey Alexander

About Joey Alexander

Album Review

Pianist Joey Alexander was never going to spend his life churning out standards. You could tell from his reimagined version of “Giant Steps," the first track on his 2015 debut album, which begins with a dazzling two-minute solo introduction. The same album also features an original tune, the prowling “Ma Blues." It was clearly only going to be a matter of time before he came up with an all-originals album, and so it is with this, his sixth outing. Meanwhile ...

Album Review

Dewa Budjana: Naurora

Read "Naurora" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 1, 2021

Balinese guitarist Dewa Budjana's seventh album on Moonjune Records, Naurora, reveals--for those who have not heard him--a musician of seemingly unlimited talent and an artist in possession of an expansive vision. He has been called a “progressive fusion maestro" and, if he has to be labeled, that description feels right. Leading off with this disc's eleven-minute title tune, Budjana--who composed, arranged and produced the music here--lays down huge, rich soundscapes in the company of a bunch of forward-looking allstars, including ...

Radio & Podcasts

Joey Alexander, Kenny Barron and Ellis Marsalis

by Joe Dimino
April 19, 2020

Neon Jazz is here for during the COVID-19 pandemic. This week we start the show with the young and very talented Joey Alexander and wrap it up with the late, great Ellis Marsalis. Support the jazz and enjoy the music. Playlist Joey Alexander “Warna" Warna (Verve) 00:00 Host talks 7:03 Wallace Roney “Children's Games'" Rememberance (TCB) 9:52 Moses Boyd “Stranger Than Fiction" Dark Matter (Exodus Records) 16:17 Host talks 21:09 Fred Wackenhut Quartet “This I Dig of You ...

Live Review

Joey Alexander Trio With Chris Potter at SFJAZZ

by Harry S. Pariser
December 31, 2018

Joey Alexander Trio with Chris PotterSFJAZZ San Francisco, CA December 13, 2018 Child prodigies have long maintained an important presence in jazz. These have included Bix Beiderbecke, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Keith Jarrett. Jarrett gave his first formal recital at the age of seven. Hancock performed on piano with the Chicago symphony at age eleven. Buddy Rich first played drums at eighteen months, while Williams first performed professionally at age thirteen and joined Miles ...

Album Review

Joey Alexander: Eclipse

Read "Eclipse" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
June 10, 2018

Pianist Joey Alexander knows how and when to strike the ivories. At the age of 14 he has already recorded two GRAMMY-nominated studio albums, My Favorite Things (Motema Music, 2015) and Countdown (Motema Music, 2016). Late in 2017, Alexander released Joey.Monk.Live! (Motema Music), a critically acclaimed surprise release to honor Thelonious Monk's centennial. Alexander has released his third studio album entitled, Eclipse. The eleven selections are mixture of originals and standards, demonstrating his aptitude as a composer (Alexander composed six ...

Album Review

Joey Alexander: Joey.Monk.Live!

Read "Joey.Monk.Live!" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 14, 2017

The late Thelonious Monk is most certainly the toast of the town these days. With the High Priest of Bop's centennial upon us, he's being saluted from all corners of the jazz world. Pianist John Beasley is leading the charge on the big band front with his MONK'estra, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is reflecting on the great pianist-composer all by his lonesome, and New York's Jazz Standard has given over Monk's birth month to a broad swath of tributes to ...

Live Review

The Joey Alexander Trio At The Flynn Center For The Performing Arts

by Doug Collette
April 30, 2017

The Joey Alexander Trio Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Burlington, Vermont April 22, 2017Watching and listening to Joey Alexander perform with his two ultra-sympathetic band mates on the Flynn Center stage April 22nd, it was impossible not to be caught up in the spontaneity of the moment, the immediacy of which is the essence of the live jazz experience. That said, as the music flowed around and through the trio, it was ...