Monty Alexander

Monty Alexander

born on 6/6/1944 in Kingston, Surrey County, Jamaica

Monty Alexander

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander (6 June 1944, Kingston, Jamaica)[1] is a virtuoso jazz pianist and recording artist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies.[2] Monty was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, and Frank Sinatra. Monty also sings and plays the melodica. He is known for his surprising musical twists, bright rhythmic sense, and intense dramatic musical climaxes. Monty's recording career has covered many of the well known American songbook standards, jazz standards, pop hits, and Jamaican songs from his original homeland. Alexander has resided in New York City for many years and performs frequently throughout the world at jazz festivals and clubs.

Biography

Alexander discovered the piano when he was four years old and seemed to have a knack for picking melodies out by ear. His mother sent him to classical music lessons at the age of six and became interested in jazz piano at the age of 14, and began playing in clubs, and on recording sessions by Clue J & His Blues Blasters, subbing for Aubrey Adams, whom he describes as his hero, when he was unable to play.[3][4] Two years later, he directed a dance orchestra (Monty and the Cyclones) and played in the local clubs covering much of the 1960s early rock and pop dance hits. Performances at the Carib Theater in Jamaica by Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole left a strong impression on the young pianist.

Alexander and his family moved to Miami, Florida, in 1961, where he played in various nightclubs. One night Monty was brought to the attention of Frank Sinatra and Frank's friend Jilly Rizzo. They were there to see the act in the next room, a Sinatra imitator. Somebody suggested they also check out the kid playing piano in the front room bar, "He's swinging the room pretty good" they said. Thus, Monty was invited to New York City in 1962 to become the house pianist for Jilly Rizzo's night club and restaurant simply called "Jilly's." In addition to performing with Frank Sinatra there,[3] Alexander also met and became friends with bassist Ray Brown and vibist Milt Jackson. He also became friendly with Miles Davis, both men sharing a love of watching boxing matches.

In Los Angeles, in 1964, Alexander recorded his first album, Alexander the Great, for Pacific Jazz at the age of 20.[4] The album was very energetic and upbeat with the climax tune being "Blues for Jilly".

Alexander recorded with Milt Jackson in 1969, with Ernest Ranglin in 1974 and in Europe the same year with Ed Thigpen. He toured regularly in Europe and recorded there, mostly with his classic trio for MPS Records. He also toured around 1976 with the steelpan player Othello Molineaux. Alexander has also played with several singers such as Ernestine Anderson, Mary Stallings and other important leaders (Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Jimmy Griffin and Frank Morgan). In his successive trios, he has played frequently with musicians associated with Oscar Peterson: Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Mads Vinding, Ed Thigpen and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.

In the mid-1970s he formed a group consisting of John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums, creating a stir on the jazz-scene in Europe. Their most famous collaboration is Montreux Alexander, recorded during the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1976.

Alexander formed a reggae band in the 1990s, featuring all Jamaican musicians. He has released several reggae albums, including Yard Movement (1996), Stir It Up (1999, a collection of Bob Marley songs), Monty Meets Sly & Robbie (2000), and Goin' Yard (2001). He collaborated again with Ranglin in 2004 on the album Rocksteady.[3]

Alexander married the American jazz guitarist Emily Remler in 1981. They divorced in 1985.[5] Alexander is currently married to Italian jazz singer Caterina Zapponi.

Awards and honors

  • Musgrave Medal, Institute of Jamaica, 2000[6]
  • Best Live Performance Album, Independent Music Awards, Harlem Kingston Express Live!, 2012[7]
  • Grammy-nominated 2011 CD - Harlem-Kingston Express: Live
  • 2014 Soul Train Award nominated followup, Harlem Kingston Express 2: The River Rolls On, both released on Motéma Records

Discography

As leader

  • Monty Alexander (1965)
  • Spunky (1965, Pacific Jazz)
  • Alexander the Great (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
  • Zing (1967, RCA)
  • This Is Monty Alexander (1969, Verve)
  • Taste of Freedom (1970)
  • Here Comes the Sun (1971, MPS)
  • We've Only Just Begun (1973, MPS)
  • Perception (1974, MPS)
  • Rass! with Ernest Ranglin (1974, MPS)
  • Love & Sunshine (1974, MPS)
  • Unlimited Love (1975, MPS)
  • Montreux Alexander (1976, MPS)
  • Cobilimbo with Ernest Ranglin (1977, MPS)
  • Estade (1978, MPS)
  • Jamento (1978, Fantasy)
  • So What? (1979, The Black & Blue Sessions)
  • The Way It Is (1979, recorded 1976, MPS)
  • Summerwind (1980, Jeton/Polygram)
  • Monty Alexander – Ernest Ranglin (1981, MPS)
  • Fingering (1981, Atlas)
  • Look Up (1982)
  • Duke Ellington Songbook (1983, MPS)
  • Reunion in Europe (1984, Concord Jazz)
  • Full Steam Ahead (1985, Concord Jazz)
  • Friday Night (1987, Limetree)
  • Triple Treat II (1987, Concord Jazz)
  • Ivory & Steel (1988)
  • Triple Treat III (1989, Concord Jazz)
  • Saturday Night (1999, Timeless)
  • The River (1990, Concord Jazz)
  • Live in Holland (1992, EmArcy)
  • Carbbean Circle (1993, Chesky)
  • Live at Maybeck (1994, Concord Jazz)
  • Steamin' (1995, Concord Jazz)
  • Yard Movement (1995, Island)
  • Maybeck Recital Hall Series, Vol. 40 (1995, Concord)
  • To Nat with Love (1995, Mastermix)
  • Ivory and Steal (1996, Concord Picante)
  • Facets (1996, Concord) with Ray Brown & Jeff Hamilton
  • Overseas Special (1996, Concord) with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis
  • Echoes of Jilly's (1997, Concord)
  • Reunion in Europe (1997, Concord) with John Clayton & Jeff Hamilton
  • The Concord Jazz Heritage Series (1998, Concord Jazz)
  • Stir It Up – The Music of Bob Marley (1999, Telarc)
  • Threesome (1999, Soul Note) with Grady Tate & Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen
  • Ballad Essentials (2000, Concord Jazz)
  • Island Grooves (2000, Concord Jazz)
  • Monty Meets Sly & Robbie (2000, Telarc)
  • Triple Treat (2001, Concord Jazz)
  • Goin' Yard (2001, Telarc)
  • Many Rivers to Cross (2001, Meldac)
  • Caribbean Duet (2001, Sound Hills) with Michel Sardaby
  • My America (2002, Telarc)
  • Triple Scoop (2002, Concord Jazz) with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis
  • Rhapsody in Blue (Telarc)
  • Jamboree (2003, Concord)
  • Li'l Darlin (2003, Absord Japan)
  • Straight Ahead (2003, Concord) with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis
  • Steaming Hot (2004, Concord)
  • Zing (2004, BMG)
  • In Tokyo (2004, Fantasy)
  • Rocksteady (2004, Telarc) with Ernest Ranglin
  • Live at the Iridium (2005, Telarc)
  • Jazz Calypso (2005, JVC)
  • Concrete Jungle: The Songs of Bob Marley (2006, Telarc)
  • The Way It Is (2006)
  • Impressions in Blue (2008, Telarc)
  • The Good Life: Monty Alexander Plays the Songs of Tony Bennett (2008, Chesky)
  • Solo (2008, Jeton)
  • Taste of Freedom (2008, Universal Japan)
  • Calypso Blues: The Songs of Nat King Cole (2009, Chesky)
  • Uplift (2011, Jazz Legacy)[8]
  • Love Me Tender (Venus, 2011)
  • Harlem – Kingston Express Live! (2011, Motéma)
  • Uplift 2 (2013, Jazz Legacy)[9]
  • Harlem-Kingston Express, Vol. 2: River Rolls On (Motéma, 2014)
  • Here Comes The Sun (Edel Germany GmbH, 2016)

As sideman

With Milt Jackson

  • That's the Way It Is (Impulse!, 1969)
  • Just the Way It Had to Be (Impulse!, 1969)
  • Soul Fusion (Pablo 1977)
  • Montreux '77
  • A London Bridge (Pablo, 1982)
  • Memories of Thelonious Sphere Monk (Pablo, 1982)
  • Mostly Duke (Pablo, 1982)

With Ray Brown

  • 1979 Live at the Concord Jazz Festival
  • 1982 Ray Brown Vol. 3
  • 1988 Summer Wind: Live at the Loa
  • 2002 Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, & Russell Malone
  • 2003 Walk On

With Ernest Ranglin

  • Ranglypso (MPS, 1974)
  • Below the Bassline (Universal, 1996)
  • Rocksteady (2004)
  • Order of Distinction (2007)

With others

Filmography

  • Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty – Live at Montreux (1994)
  • New Morning – The Paris Concert (2008)

See also

  • List of jazz pianists

References

  1. ^ Rinzler, Paul; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "Alexander, Monty". In Barry Kernfeld. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 28. ISBN 1-56159-284-6. 
  2. ^ Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 7. ISBN 0-141-00646-3. 
  3. ^ a b c Moskowitz, David V. (2006), Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-33158-8, pp. 8–9.
  4. ^ a b Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004), The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn, Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4, pp. 24, 49.
  5. ^ Nicholson, Stuart (1990), Jazz: The Modern Resurgence, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0671710125, p. 89.
  6. ^ "Musgrave Awardees". Institute of Jamaica. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015. 
  7. ^ "11th Annual Independent Music Awards Winners Announced!" Independent Music Awards, 2 May 2012. Retrieved on 4 September 2013.
  8. ^ Monty Alexander, Nova Concerts International, 4 February 2011.
  9. ^ Monty Alexander UPLIFT 2. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Monty Alexander | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 December 2016. 

External links

  • Official website
  • Images of Monty Alexander, digitized photographs from the James Arkatov Collection at UCLA Library Special Collections.
  • New England Jazz History Database Audio Interviews
This page was last modified 31.12.2017 02:03:01

This article uses material from the article Monty Alexander from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.