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Take Five with Alex Jenkins

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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.

Alex has studied music, drums and percussion at California State University Sacramento (CSUS), the Ali Akbar Khan School of Music in San Rafael, and the Drummer's Collective in New York. He also spent three months in Varanasi, India, studying North Indian percussion. He performs and records regularly throughout California and beyond, playing a variety of musical styles on both drum set and tabla. These styles include jazz, Afro-Cuban, rock, blues, fusion, Indian classical and everything in between. Alex heads his namesake, "The Alex Jenkins Trio" which continues to keep a very busy performing and touring schedule, playing more than 100 shows a year.

In addition, Alex keeps a busy teaching schedule which include workshops and clinics for various schools such as CSUS, American River College, Cosumnes River College, California College of the Arts in Oakland, UC Merced and many more. Alex also has an extensive private teaching roster that includes both in-person and Zoom lessons.

Instruments:

I play DW, Gretsch, Craviotto and Ludwig drums, a variety of cymbals including Amedia and Ibrahim Dirl, Vic Firth drum sticks, brushes and mallets and Aquarian drum heads. I also play a set of handcrafted tabla from India and a djembe made in Mali, Africa.

Teachers and/or influences?

Sacramento based drummers Tony Galioto, Dave Haddad and Rick Lotter were my main teachers on the drum set. Swapan Chaudhuri and percussionist Dan Kennedy were my teachers on tabla. I had a wonderful band teacher at Sacramento high school, named Ike Paggett, who introduced me to jazz. My teachers at the Drummers Collective in New York, Peter Retzlaff and Ian Froman, were also very influential. My two all-time favorite drum set players are Elvin Jones and John Bonham.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...

I knew I wanted to be a musician when I took my very first drum lesson in Sacramento, CA with Tony Galioto. Tony really took time to teach me all the fundamentals of drumming. Because Tony is a multi-instrumentalist, he taught me not only to be a drummer but to be a musician as well.

Your sound and approach to music.

I love music from a variety of cultures and countries. Music has taken me around the world and those influences come through in my playing and composition. I love mixing rhythms from different disciplines to create new ways of approaching my music. I'm probably most influenced by tabla and the music of North India. I love experimenting with those rhythms on the drum set.

Your teaching approach

When I teach, I use a method called theme and variation. I might teach a student a very simple rhythm or concept and then have them come up with some variations on their own. I try to promote as much creativity as possible in order to get them thinking in a musical way. When it comes to teaching my philosophy is to teach my students not only how to play, but how to listen to the musicians they are playing with

Your dream band

The trio I'm working with now (Levi Saelua on saxophone and clarinet and Alex Reiff on upright bass) really is my dream band. We've been playing together for many years and we have such a great rapport. They're not only the musicians I play with, they're also close friends.

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?

Tri-Cycle is my favorite recording. We had a two-day recording session and then spent the third day mixing. It all went really quickly and we had a lot of fun. I think that comes through in the music. We recorded it at Rick Lotter's studio in Sacramento and he also mixed it. My wife and stepdaughter helped me design the artwork for the CDs; they did a beautiful job.

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?

I always try to put the focus on listening. If I'm not listening to the people I'm playing with then chances are what I'm playing isn't going to be relevant. You can have all the chops in the world but if you don't know how to listen then none of what you do is worth anything. I'm also heavily involved in music education. I love teaching students of all ages and ability levels.

The first jazz album I bought was:

John Coltrane, Giant Steps.

Desert Island picks:

Anything with Elvin Jones, John Bonham, Brian Blade, John Coltrane, Swapan Chaudhuri, Chick Corea, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, David Bowie, Steve Gadd, James Brown, Roy Haynes, or The Meters (just to name a few).

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?

Investment in teaching, education, jazz festivals, money for the arts, music venues and music in schools.

What is in the near future?

Right now, I'm really focused on promoting the new album, Tri-Cycle. I'm booking as many gigs as possible I'm preparing for the album release show on Sept 17th in Sacramento, CA at Lunas Café.

If I weren't a jazz musician, I would be a:

A Herpetologist

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