Joey Alexander: Celestial Keeper
It might be my cloistered existence, but I’ve not been aware of Joey Alexander’s growing reputation as a stellar 22-year-old pianist and composer. Indonesia-born, he spent years playing in Baltimore and New York, where he was invited by Wynton Marsalis to perform at the Lincoln Centre in 2014. He quickly became recognised as a promising newcomer on the jazz scene whose idols were Bill Evans and Miles Davis. Alexander has recently returned to Bali (his declared heaven on earth) and this is his third album for Mack Avenue Records. It features his latest trio with bassist Kris Funn and drummer Jonathan Barber. They are joined by tenor and alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, and vocalists Alita Moses and Lisa Fischer. Seven of the tracks on this CD are Alexander compositions – none of them particularly memorable. The cloying vocals on Whispers Of Love (Moses) and Funny Valentine (Fischer) are best left unheard. Shaw plays fluent soprano on two original Alexander compositions – As Far As The Eye Can See and Deep Calls To Deep. He is also the composer of Aversion, an unsettled and unpredictable piece which he explains is “about my aversion to doubt and the feeling of insecurity regarding the music I am about to share”.
Alexander’s strengths are his delicacy of touch and inventiveness; his weaknesses are his limitations as a composer. Seven of the tracks are his own discursive (and curiously titled) compositions – including Bemused (Solo Improv I) and Bemused Again (Solo Improv II). But he is heard to advantage on the classic standard Stella By Starlight, ably supported by Barber and Funn.
This is perhaps best described as a reflective and introspective session. It ends appropriately with a moving rendition of Stuart K. Hine’s composition How Great Thou Art. In a brief liner note Alexander thanks all those involved in the production, performance and release of the session, but reserves his greatest indebtedness to “the giver of my gift . . . my Lord Jesus Christ”. Praise indeed, but this is also something of a curate’s egg.
Discography
Bemused (Solo Improv I); Aversion; Whispers Of Love; Stella By Starlight; Deep Calls To Deep; My Funny Valentine; Bemused Again Solo Improv II), Aliceanna (Bmore); As Far As The Eye Can See; How Great Thou Art (50.40)
Alexander (p); Funn (b); Barber (d); Shaw (as, ss); Moses, Fischer (v). Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, Astoria, New York, 12-14 May 2025.
Mack Avenue MAC1224-2
Scott Hamilton & Strings: The Ghost, The King And I
This stimulating album features Scott Hamilton in congenial company – performing a programme of standards and new compositions in front of an appreciative studio audience. He fronted with Dutch jazz alumni Rob van Bavel (And I), bassist Frans van Geest (The Ghost), and guitarist Vincent Koning (The King). On several tracks they are joined by the distinguished South Korean string trio, Salon de Musique. Whether interpreting such standards as I Want To Be Happy – a tribute to the Oscar Peterson Trio recording with Stan Getz (1958), In The Still Of The Night (Cole Porter), Weaver Of Dreams (Victor Young) or original compositions by Phil Woods (Goodbye Mr. Evans), Van Bavel and Rachmaninov (Sergei & Bill), the participants combine to create and recreate a distinctive musical mélange. Van Bavel relates that Sergei & Bill was his arrangement of Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony. It leads into the moving Goodbye Mr. Evans, composed by Phil Woods after the death of Bill Evans (“one of my all-time heroes”).
Hamilton, the titular leader, never sounded better and both bonds with and inspires his cohorts on every title. Not surprisingly, he is the principal soloist and fashions immaculate and memorable renditions of all the titles. His interaction with the imported Korean string section is exemplary. Not least, the proceedings were well-recorded, without edits or second takes.
Listening to the final theme, Hamilton reportedly said “Rob, that was so beautiful, man, what a hall, what a sound, I could live here.” Understandably: this was a remarkable event.
Discography
I Want To Be Happy; Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar; Everything I Love; Sergei & Bill; Goodbye Mr. Evans; In The Still Of The Night; Weaver Of Dreams; Autumn In New York (54.06)
Hamilton (ts); Fran van Geest (b); Vincent Koning (g) Rob van Bavel (p). Hyemi Kim (vn); Jieun Kim (vla); Sohyeon Park (clo). Studio 1 Heuvellaan, Holland, 26 October 2025.
Sound Liaison SL-1084A
Various: Jazz At Massey Hall, Toronto, 15-05-1953
Frequently (and implausibly) celebrated as “the greatest jazz concert of all time” these live performances by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charlie Mingus and Max Roach are justly famous but also flawed and problematic. Produced by the New Jazz Society of Toronto, they form the only known example of the participants playing together, and are replete with daring and dazzling solos from Bird, Diz and Powell. Again, the rapport between them is musically and verbally apparent. Parker introduces Gillespie’s Salt Peanuts as having been composed in 1942 by my “worthy constituent” and he can be heard in the background cheering on Diz during his splendid solo. Parker himself fashions virtuosic and high-speed solos on A Night In Tunisia and Wee (Allen’s Alley). Powell – despite a recent illness – creates a moving rendition of Cole Porter’s All The Things You Are.
But the recorded concert (on various labels) has suffered from several faults. Notably, the length of tracks varies between 9.09 (Hot House) and 0.41 minutes (52nd Street Theme). More seriously, Mingus was not satisfied with the reproduction of his bass playing – it’s almost inaudible – on the released recording, and re-recorded his bass parts in the studio, overdubbing them onto the original tape. Four tracks by the Bud Powell Trio were recorded later in New York with George Duvivier on bass and Art Taylor on drums.
Unfortunately, the concert was held on the same night as the first Rocky Marciano/Jersey Joe Walcott heavy weight championship fight (Marciano won by a knockout in the first round) which reduced the Massey Hall audience, and left the promoters unable to pay the musicians. (Gillespie himself kept leaving the stage to check on the state of the fight). Bird played a plastic Grafton alto, having allegedly pawned his usual instrument to pay for drugs. Roach’s overlong Drum Conversation is more of a monologue. The quintet had no rehearsal, and audience participation was reduced to a minimum. When cheques were eventually issued, Gillespie tried to cash his in New York where it bounced, he said, “like a rubber ball”. Happily, Roach and Mingus recorded the concert and released it on their own Debut Records label.
Despite (or even because of) these pitfalls and issues, after 73 years Jazz At Massey Hall remains a key event in the fall of the swing and the rise of bop. Enjoy.
Discography
Perdido; Salt Peanuts; All The Things You Are; Drum Conversation; Cherokee; Embraceable You; Jubilee (Hallelujah); Sure Thing; Lullaby Of Birdland; I’ve Got You Under My Skin; Wee (Allen’s Alley); Hot House; A Night In Tunisia (72.38)
Gillespie (t); Parker (as); Powell (p); Mingus (b); Roach (d). Massey Hall, Toronto, 15-05-1953.
Frémeaux & Associés FA5924