Joey Alexander - WOW!

I first learned about Joey Alexander (born Josiah Alexander Sila) from a post about a young pianist playing the very difficult John Coltrane tune "Giant Steps". From that moment I was hooked. I quickly went to my local music shop and was surprised when I found the one copy they had of his debut CD titled "My Favorite Things". It began the constant playing in my car and my young pianist son Cooper who had just turned 9 was as hooked as I was. We both dreamed of a chance to hear him live and this past week we had the special opportunity to do so twice. Once in Portland at Newmark Theatre and next on his second night at Jazz Alley in Seattle. Seeing Joey live only solidified to me that he is a master of his art form, and that is improvisation in jazz. Both performances were different with only repeating 3 or so songs, and hey if you can play John Coltrane's "Countdown" the way he plays it then you play it every night. :) My current favorite is his own composition "Sunday Waltz" with a beautifully done piano intro which again is improvised differently each time. He does not just regurgitate music and lines like a young classically train pianist may, he feels the music, he listens to his partners and he improvises exactly what he wants to share in that moment. Truly remarkable and I feel so honored to have not only seen him perform at such a young age but to photograph him and meet him. Okay, I don't know who the bigger fan is now, me or my son. :)

www.joeyalexandermusic.com

Photos are from Portland, OR - Newmark Theatre 9/11/16 & Seattle, WA - Jazz Alley 9/14/16

Joey's Trio consists of
Joey Alexander - Piano
Dan Chmielinski - Bass
Ulysses Owens Jr - Drums