Monty Alexander Trio

SoNoKLECT '07-'08 A Concert Series of Modern Music DouG SCARBOROUGH, DIRECTOR Monty Alexander Trio WILSON HALL LENFEST CENTER FOR THE ARTS WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY 20 OCTOBER 2007 8:00 P.M. PROGRAM SET 1 - INTERMIS SION - SET2 Monty Al exand er, piano Has san Shakur, bass Her/in Riley, drum s 3 Monty Al exand er By grafti ng the traditions of Ame rican jazz to his aut hent ic Jama ican roots, pia nist Monty Alexander has spent a lifetime explori ng the rich de pths of musica l and cultu ral divers ity. In a career that spans more than four deca d es, he has per form ed and / or recor ded with ar tists from every corner of the mu sical uni verse: Frank Sinat ra, Ray Brow n, Dizzy Gillespie, So nn y Rol lin s, Q u in cy Jo n es, Ernest Ranglin, Sly Dunb ar, Robbie Shakespea re and many more. Th rough it all, he continu es to dr aw inspir ation from the grea t icons of American mu sic an d po pul ar cu ltu re. "All these peop le came from stru ggling circum stances," he says. "They didn 't go to mu sic school. They came from the street. Na t Cole, Sinatra, Lou is Arm strong- they all had to hu stle to get where they got. It's that story of peop le w ho can grow up in America or come to Amer ica and achieve somethin g just because they have th is grea t attitud e and they have the talent to go w ith it, and they reac h for something and they get it." In many ways, Alexa nd er has lived that same story. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he took his first piano lessons at age six. As a youn gs ter, he was often invited to sit in w ith the band s of prominent mu sicians workin g in Jam aican nightclub s and hotels. Du ring his teen years, he enjoyed, among others, the perform ances of Louis Armstrong an d Nat "King" Cole at the Carib Theater in Jamaica. The shades of joyful gospel mu sic in these artists' performances had a profou nd and lasting effect on Alexand er's own style. He eve ntua lly formed a band called "Monty and the Cyclo nes," w hich landed seve ral songs on the Jamaica n mu sic charts betwee n 1958 to 1960. Alexand er came to the Un ited States in the end of 1961. Less than two years later, he'd lan ded a gig with Art Mooney's orchestra in Las Vegas, where he caught the eye of New York City club ow ner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hir ed the youn g pia nist to wo rk in his club, w here he accompani ed man y we ll-kno w n pe rfor mers, includ ing Sinat ra. He also met Milt Jac kson, who hir ed Mont y to work w ith him , and eve ntually introdu ced him to bassist Ray Brown (with whom he subsequ entl y reco rded and perform ed on man y occas ions). One introdu ction led to anoth er, and before long he was workin g with Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Sonn y Roll ins. In the past deca de alone, Alexand er has ma intain ed an espe cially busy schedule with multiple proj ects spannin g multip le genr es and styles. In 1991, he ass isted Nata lie Cole in craftin g a tribu te album to her father , Nat "Kin g" Co le (th e album, Unforgettable, won seve n Gramm y award s). In 1993, he perform ed at Carnegie Ha ll in a tribut e to the grea t jazz piani st Erroll Garn er. A reg ular fixture at th e Montr eux Jazz Festival since 1976, he perform ed at the Swiss festival in 1993 and 1994 with ope ra singe r Barbara Hendri cks in a program of Duk e Ellington comp osition s. He wa s back in Montr eux in 1995, this tim e with his all-Jamaican reggae g roup w here he record ed a live a lbum for Island Record s, Yard Movement. In Au gust 1996, Alexand er perform ed Georg e Ge rshw in 's " Rhapsod y in Blue" with a full sy mphon y or ches tra dire cted by Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Fest iva l in Swit zerland . By the end of th at sa me year, he had recorded nearl y sixty CDs und er his own nam e, and wa s frequ ent ly performin g at lea din g festivals and mu sic venu es worldwid e. Alexa nd er joined the Telarc label with the 1999 release of Stir It Up, an album that combined acou stic jazz an d Jamaican reggae rh ythm s to int erpret the music of th e great Bob Ma rley. Stir It Up marked th e beginnin g of a prolifi c period for Alexa nd er on Telarc - one that continu es to this da y. Mont y has dr aw n from the varied sourc es of his mu sical exper iences to record th e next six album s for Telarc; th ese includ e sess ions in classic trio format su ch as Impressions in Blue, as we ll as reco rd ings of live concert sets such as Goin' Yard and th e most recent release Live at the Iridium (2005). 5 In the late summ er of 2005, Alexand er trave led to Bob Marley's Tuff Gon g Stud io in Kingston, Jam aica, w ith a crew of highly talented U.S . mu sicians and tea med up w ith Jama ican top sess ion playe rs to record the brilli ant follow up to Stir It Up. Co11crete Ju11gle is a set of twelve compo sitions penn ed by Bob Marl ey and reinterpr eted via Alexander 's jazz piano-oriented arran gements. The resultin g union of mu sical sensibilities digs even deeper into the Mar ley lege nd . Separate and apart from being the best musician he can be, Alexand er's most import ant objective- wh ether his vehicle is reggae or jazz or so ul, small combo or sy mpho ny- is to exp ress the joy of mu sic to al l with in earsho t, regardl ess of prevai ling differen ces in taste or cultu re. "My goal is to up lift," says Alexand er. "The piano, to me, is a vehicle for conn ecting to ot her hum an beings. I'm very open to all forms of music. I'm not a bebop mu sician, I'm not a calypso mu sician, I'm not a regg ae mu sician . I'm a mu sician who loves it all." source: mo11tynlexn11der.com b 2007-2008 SoNoKLECT SEASON Saturda y, 20 October Monty Alexander Trio A blend o f Am erican Jazz w ith Jam aican root s ◊ Saturday, 2 Februar y McLean Mix, Natural Energy Pri scilJa and Barton McLean Live interactiv e mu sic media ◊ Saturday, 22 March Alexandre Dossin, piano Recent winner of the Martha Ar geri ch Int ernational Piano Comp etition fOR INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SONOKLECT HEADQUARTERS 540-458-8310 SCARBOROUGHD @WLU.EDU .

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