A more extensive tour is planned for this fall.įriendly and upbeat, even if understandably soft-spoken on the phone with an interlocutor from the press, Alexander is quick to thank the supporters and patrons who have lined up behind him already. And when you hear that, that’s when you really start to fathom how deep his gift is,” he says.Īlexander is enrolled in an online education program, but has talked of plans to go to school in New York. He’s coming in with new arrangements and dealing with some very complex harmonies and melodies, and making them his own. “He’s not a one-trick pony or someone who’s just memorized licks. Olaine says it’s important to note that Alexander is more than a technical virtuoso. 1) and Rockport’s Shalin Liu Performance Center (Aug. Three of the nine dates scheduled for spring and summer are in New England - a sold-out trio gig at Scullers on Wednesday will be followed in August by appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival (July 31, Aug. He isn’t launching a full-scale tour to support the album yet, but has booked a string of appearances. Greats like Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis became key advocates.Ī visit to New York City last fall may have proved the tipping point, with a well-received appearance in a concert honoring Hancock at the Apollo Theater, followed swiftly by the sessions for “My Favorite Things.”īuilding from those sessions, he now has the beginnings of a regular, working trio with Hall and Miller. By age 10 he’d won an international improvisation contest in Ukraine. The family moved to Jakarta, the largest city in Indonesia, and though he spent some time studying classical music he mainly apprenticed by listening to and playing with other jazz musicians. He quickly wowed his parents not only with his ability to learn jazz compositions and play them cleanly, but also his knack for improvisation. I would listen to this song by Thelonious Monk called ‘Well, You Needn’t.’ And then I started to try the piano. I listened to my dad play, because my dad played piano a little bit, and he was playing these songs from the old times and from these great jazz musicians. “Before I played the piano, I would listen to jazz, when I was little. Sometimes it’s hard,” he says of the latest demands on his time, including requests for interviews, “but I enjoy it.”Īccustomed to hearing jazz played in the home, Alexander started on the piano at age 6.
If he’s feeling any increased pressure, he’s not showing it. He is speaking the day after appearing on NBC’s “The Today Show” and “Nightly News.” Earlier in the week, he was profiled on the front page of The New York Times.
In 2013 Joey Alexander is again scheduled to perform in several international festivals besides Master-Jam Fest.“I love jazz because jazz is all about freedom, freedom to express yourself,” Alexander says in a telephone interview.
#Joey 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. Joey Alexander, a jazz pianist from Jakarta, Indonesia, has been playing the instrument since he was six years old.
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.
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