Alexander piano prodigy tv#

I think this is what grandparents and parents perhaps had heard that made them embrace and love each other and bring children into the world,” he says.Īlso Read | Child prodigy Lydian Nadhaswaram on being the ‘world’s best’ “I wanted to show that this so-called hotshot piano player can also embrace sweet songs, the kind that our mothers and our grandparents, who don’t know jazz, would sit back, and like. Instead of putting the songs (in Love Notes) in what typically would have been the setting, I said, no, I’m going to put it in the setting that brings me the nostalgia of when I was seven-eight years old in Jamaica,” says Alexander, took simple and popular love songs and put a little Jamaican flavour in them, making Love Notes a purposeful departure from Alexander’s primary catalogue. I am also experiencing the beginnings of this movement coming out of Jamaica, with ska and the rocksteady rhythm. “At the same time, I’m beginning to hear rhythm and blues. At 10, he saw the latter at a concert in Jamaica and could not forget the feeling of the music. But it was also jazz and American standards,” says Alexander who has always held Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole as his musical heroes. “My influences were Caribbean music and folk music. Talking about his latest album, Love Notes, in which he also makes his vocal debut, Alexander says that it was the music of his childhood in Jamaica and its nostalgia that influenced his latest work. One of the biggest things for me when I play music is to go right for the rhythm – the heartbeat of life,” he says. “I hear the Indian influence in the rhythms of the popular music of Jamaica in a very powerful way. Alexander reveals the similarities he sees between Indian classical music, jazz and African music. The festival also saw performances by the New York-based 14-ensemble, The Mingus Big Band, which specialises in the compositions of American jazz upright bassist, pianist and composer Charles Mingus Jr while Germany-based Thilo Wolf Jazz Quartet will perform with singer Johanna Iser on November 27 at the festival.Īhead of his visit, Alexander is excited by India, a country that reminds him of “curry, mango chutney, Bollywood, cricket and the brilliant people that came to America and contributed to the field of science and technology.” But his admiration for India doesn’t stop there. A regular jazz festival across the globe, Alexander, on his first visit to India, is set to perform at the NCPA International Jazz Festival 2022 on November 26, in Mumbai. In a career spanning more than five decades, the Grammy-nominated musician won the Independent Music Award for Best Live Performance Album for Harlem-Kingston Express. I felt that he was praying through his music,” says Alexander, who is known for his exhilarating performances, that blend his Caribbean influences into rousing improvisations with a strong swing sensibility. “Coltrane struggled with drugs but after he became interested in spirituality, he was a born-again man. He felt a significant change in the latter’s music after he came in contact with Indian music, meditation and spirituality. At the time, Coltrane’s music had begun to feel different. The conversation about the legendary American jazz saxophonist intrigued Alexander. In 2013 Joey Alexander is again scheduled to perform in several international festivals besides Master-Jam Fest.Also Read | ‘Learning music is a never-ending journey’: Piano prodigy Gauri Mishra

Alexander piano prodigy tv#

He has performed in Java International Jazz Festival, Jakarta International Jazz Festival, Jazz Goes To Campus, World Youth Jazz Festival in KL, Indonesia Music House Lokananta- Indosiar TV and music Now at the age of 9, Joey has performed and collaborated with top Jazz musicians in Indonesia among others Indra Lesmana (Pianist/Composer), Benny Likumahua (Legendary Jazz musician/ Trombonist), Idang Rasjidi (Jazz Pianist), Oele Patisellano (Legendary Guitarist), Indro Hardjodikoro (Bass player), Barry Likumahua (Bass player) and also with some visiting Jazz musicians from Europe. In December, 2011 Joey was invited by UNESCO to play solo piano in front of Jazz Icon Herbie Hancock during his visit to Indonesia as United Nations Ambassador. But his real enjoyment is sitting in for jam sessions.” – says his father. “He started piano lessons at the age of 6. When he was 6 years old, his parents brought home a mini keyboard and to their astonishment Joey could play a melody line of 'Well you needn't' (a Jazz piece written by Thelonious Monk). Joey Alexander is considered to be a Jazz Prodigy in Indonesia.