Monty Alexander celebrated Frank Sinatra at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York - Read/Watch the video - https://t.co/jQefb8PvUy pic.twitter.com/xs84LPrufI— Jazz In Europe (@Jazzineu) October 14, 2016
Friday, October 14, 2016
#MontyAlexander celebrated #FrankSinatra
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Monty Alexander: Jazz Piano Via Jamaican Pop
Alan Nahigian/Motema Music
The sound of one of this year's Grammy-nominated reggae albums,Harlem-Kingston Express Live, may seem perplexing at first. But don't let the blend of swing and dub confuse you: That's just the unique sound of pianist Monty Alexander.
Alexander's music has variously been described as bebop, calypso and reggae. But after 50 years in music and more than 70 albums, he's earned the right to call his music simply his own.
Alexander grew up in Jamaica playing the piano and the accordion, and he was versed in the up-and-coming popular music of the island.
"When I left Jamaica for the first time in the early '60s, there was no such name [as reggae]," Alexander says in an interview with All Things Considered host Audie Cornish. "And they had just begun to label that other music ska, Jamaica ska, and I was one of the musicians playing on those early recordings. I was about 15 years old."
After moving to the U.S., Alexander found success on the jazz club scene, playing with several heavyweight artists on his way up. In his quest to fit in, Alexander says his calypso roots took a back seat for the early portion of his career.
"When you come from another place and you have a chance to get in with the folks of whatever avenue you're going down ... you're trying to fit in, and in order to fit in, you have to leave your stuff behind," Alexander says.
After many years and visits back to his native Jamaica, Alexander began to incorporate sounds from his homeland into his music.
"I left the calypso and the island rhythms behind me, but they were always there in the back of my brain," Alexander says. "And years and years go by, and then I started to go back to Jamaica more frequently, and I realized how much I really loved home, and I started to bring back the roots rhythms."
The result was a multifaceted sound that eludes genre categorization and, consequently, a name.
"Monty Alexander music, that's all I can come up with," he says. "I have so many different directions that I can go in and make something out of it that I'm constantly being motivated by that. So my music is alive, it's right now, it's here and now. That's it."
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/01/147722369/monty-alexander-jazz-piano-via-jamaican-pop?ft=1&f=2
Sunday, January 17, 2010
In a career spanning 05 decades, Monty Alexander has built a reputation....
Born on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he took his first piano lessons at age six, although he is largely self-taught. As a teenager, he witnessed concerts by Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole at Kingston’s Carib Theater. These artists had a profound effect on Alexander’s aspirations. He formed Monty and the Cyclones in the late 1950s and also recorded on sessions with the musicians who would catapult Jamaican music to international recognition as The Skatalites (Bob Marley’s first backing band).
Alexander and his family came to the United States at the end of 1961. Less than two years later, while playing in Las Vegas with Art Mooney’s orchestra, he caught the eye of New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hired the young pianist to work in his club, Jilly’s, where he accompanied Sinatra and others. There he met Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson, who hired him and eventually introduced him to former Charlie Parker collaborator and legendary bassist Ray Brown. Alexander recorded and performed with the two jazz giants on many occasions. Jazz’s greatest luminaries welcomed Alexander to their “musical fraternity” in the mid-1960s. Among these earliest enthusiasts for his playing were none other than Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Miles Davis.
To this day, Alexander maintains an active touring schedule, from intimate jazz clubs to concert halls and jazz festivals around the globe. His collaborations span multiple genres, styles, and generations. His projects have been as varied as assisting Natalie Cole in her tribute album to her father, Nat “King” Cole in 1991 (the resulting album, Unforgettable, won seven Grammy awards), performing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” under the direction of Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and recording the piano track for the film score of Clint Eastwood’s Bird, a movie about the life of jazz titan Charlie Parker.
With the invitation and encouragement of Wynton Marsalis, Alexander conceived and directed the acclaimed program Lords of the West Indies at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2008, broadcast nationally on BETJ. Alexander returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Fall 2009 with a new program Harlem Kingston Express.
As a leader, Monty Alexander has recorded over 60 albums to date. His 1976 Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival performance with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist John Clayton has become one of the most celebrated live recordings in contemporary jazz. His most recent albums on the Telarc label include trio sessions, such as Impressions in Blue, and the live concert recording Goin’ Yard. In the late summer of 2005, Alexander traveled to Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and teamed up with top Jamaican session players to record Concrete Jungle, a set of twelve Bob Marley compositions reinterpreted through Alexander’s jazz piano-centered arrangements.
The resulting union of musical perspectives digs deep into the Marley legend and brings together the two worlds that Alexander most treasures, building the musical bridges that are the very essence of his craft. As a testament to his versatility, The Good Life, on Chesky Records is a collection of songs written and popularized by one of his all time favorite artists and good friends, Tony Bennett. His current release on Chesky is Calypso Blues, a tribute to his hero Nat Cole.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monty Alexander
In a career spanning five decades, pianist Monty Alexander has built a reputation exploring and bridging the worlds of American jazz, popular song, and the music of his native Jamaica, finding in each a sincere spirit of musical expression. In the process, he has performed and recorded with artists from every corner of the musical universe and entertainment world: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Barbara Hendricks, Bill Cosby, Bobby McFerrin, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare, among others.
Born on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he took his first piano lessons at age six, although he is largely self-taught. As a teenager, he witnessed concerts by Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole at Kingston’s Carib Theater. These artists had a profound effect on Alexander’s aspirations. He formed Monty and the Cyclones in the late 1950s and also recorded on sessions with the musicians who would catapult Jamaican music to international recognition as The Skatalites (Bob Marley’s first backing band).
Alexander and his family came to the United States at the end of 1961. Less than two years later, while playing in Las Vegas with Art Mooney’s orchestra, he caught the eye of New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hired the young pianist to work in his club, Jilly’s, where he accompanied Sinatra and others. There he met Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson, who hired him and eventually introduced him to former Charlie Parker collaborator and legendary bassist Ray Brown. Alexander recorded and performed with the two jazz giants on many occasions. Jazz’s greatest luminaries welcomed Alexander to their “musical fraternity” in the mid-1960s. Among these earliest enthusiasts for his playing were none other than Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Miles Davis.
To this day, Alexander maintains an active touring schedule, from intimate jazz clubs to concert halls and jazz festivals around the globe. His collaborations span multiple genres, styles, and generations. His projects have been as varied as assisting Natalie Cole in her tribute album to her father, Nat “King” Cole in 1991 (the resulting album, Unforgettable, won seven Grammy awards), performing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” under the direction of Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and recording the piano track for the film score of Clint Eastwood’s Bird, a movie about the life of jazz titan Charlie Parker.
In August 2000, the Jamaican government awarded Monty Alexander the title of Commander in the Order of Distinction for outstanding services to Jamaica as a worldwide music ambassador. In Hal Leonard’s 2005 book The Fifty Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time, Alexander was listed among the top five Jazz pianists of all time.
With the invitation and encouragement of Wynton Marsalis, Alexander conceived and directed the acclaimed program Lords of the West Indies at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2008, broadcast nationally on BETJ. Alexander returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Fall 2009 with a new program Harlem Kingston Express.
As a leader, Monty Alexander has recorded over 60 albums to date. His 1976 Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival performance with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist John Clayton has become one of the most celebrated live recordings in contemporary jazz. His most recent albums on the Telarc label include trio sessions, such as Impressions in Blue, and the live concert recording Goin’ Yard. In the late summer of 2005, Alexander traveled to Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and teamed up with top Jamaican session players to record Concrete Jungle, a set of twelve Bob Marley compositions reinterpreted through Alexander’s jazz piano-centered arrangements. The resulting union of musical perspectives digs deep into the Marley legend and brings together the two worlds that Alexander most treasures, building the musical bridges that are the very essence of his craft. As a testament to his versatility, The Good Life, on Chesky Records is a collection of songs written and popularized by one of his all time favorite artists and good friends, Tony Bennett. His current release on Chesky is Calypso Blues, a tribute to his hero Nat Cole.
http://montyalexander.com/bio.html
Friday, February 27, 2009
Playboy Jazz Fest Announces Lineup....
Quincy Jones had a twofold purpose in taking the podium at Wednesday's announcement of the 31st annual Playboy Jazz Festival.
First he continued his advocacy for a secretary of the arts Cabinet position; second he introduced 23-year-old Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, whom he has taken under his wing over the past few years.
Rodriguez, who performed two tunes at the Playboy Mansion Wednesday, will make his highest profile appearance since defecting to the U.S. last year on the festival's second day, June 14. Jones first heard Rodriguez, a composer for Cuban TV programs, in 2006 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Rodriguez is on a bill headlined by the Wayne Shorter Quartet and featuring Kenny G, Patti Austin, King Sunny Ade from Nigeria, the Dave Holland Big Band, Monty Alexander's reggae project Jazz and Roots, Oscar Hernandez and the Conga Room All- Stars and the Anat Cohen Quartet.
Cohen also will perform Saturday in the band hand-picked by emcee Bill Cosby, which this year features Dwayne Burno, Ndugu Chancler, Luis Conte, Tanya Darby and Geoff Keezer. The Neville Brothers will headline the June 13 show, which includes a “Kind of Blue @ 50" band led by drummer Jimmy Cobb, the Jon Faddis Quartet, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, bassist-singer Esperanza Spalding and the New Birth Brass Band. Longtime Southern California bandleader and trumpeter Jack Sheldon will make his festival debut with his orchestra; the Pete Escovedo Orchestra is also on the bill.
The concerts are held at the Hollywood Bowl.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000598.html?categoryid=16&cs=1
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