Joey Alexander

[Dub Modal]

FWIW, 2 of the 7 songs on Alexander's newest album aren't written by him. One is I Can't Make You Love Me and the other is the public domain Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Obviously per the OP he throws in other standards during live performances, so he's not solely playing his own compositions. 

 

[T.D.]

20 hours ago, JSngry said:

That's interesting, because IMO the term "Young Lions" in current usage implies a musical category or grouping into which I would not pigeonhole several of the musicians listed. Bluiett, Davis, D'Rivera, Freeman, Wadud for instance.

Edited Monday at 07:33 PM by T.D.

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, T.D. said:

That's interesting, because IMO the term "Young Lions" in current usage implies a musical category or grouping into which I would not pigeonhole several of the musicians listed. Bluiett, Davis, D'Rivera, Freeman, Wadud for instance.

It was a time when marketing had yet to be finalized. You can see that decisions were made, and here we are.

[T.D.]

22 minutes ago, JSngry said:

It was a time when marketing had yet to be finalized. You can see that decisions were made, and here we are.

Good point, that.

[JSngry]

Also note that THAT Young Lions record was released thru Elektra-Musician, which was under the aegis of Bruce Lundvall, whereas post-Lundvall Columbia jazz had mostly fallen to George Butler, who was being picked off by the Crouch/Etc. crowd.

The wounds are old, and not yet totally healed.

[felser]

21 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Also note that THAT Young Lions record was released thru Elektra-Musician, which was under the aegis of Bruce Lundvall, whereas post-Lundvall Columbia jazz had mostly fallen to George Butler, who was being picked off by the Crouch/Etc. crowd.

The wounds are old, and not yet totally healed.

I wasted valuable money in the early CD days buying that stuff cheap.   Haven't had a yearning to go listen to the likes of Kent or Marlon Jordan, Monte Croft, etc., you know?  I do like that first Christopher Hollyday RCA/Novus album, which is basically a Jackie-McLean tribute album with Wallace Roney and the great Walton/Williams/Higgins rhythm section.  Not original, of course, but good listening.

[Ken Dryden]

18 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

My good friend  jazz pianist the late George Ziskind and I spoke about this often. He referred to what he called "the composer gene" that only a limited number of musicians have.

When I look at a jazz album and see all the tunes are originals by the leader, I quickly loose interest in hearing it. Of course there are a number of exceptions such as ,for example Horace, Cedar, Wayne, Bird, Golson and some others. Some standards, and or some of the fine tunes by the jazz musicians with the "composer gene" provides an incentive for me to want to give that album a listen.

 

A good sign of the composer gene is when fellow artists record a musician’s compositions on a regular basis.

[Rabshakeh]

On 4/14/2025 at 1:05 PM, Dub Modal said:

Thanks to the OP and subsequent convo I checked out his most recent studio work "Continuous" with Kris Funn (b), John Davis (d) and Theo Croker (tp). Very enjoyable. I don't hear much influence from the bebop era but I do hear 70s Tyner and Chick Corea. He plays a lot of notes but I hear purpose behind them. Overall the album reminds me of Mathias Eick's records. Similar vibes. I'll definitely revisit it and would go see him live as well. 

Just a quick word on the drumming style here. Definitely modern and something that's ubiquitous these days. Sometimes I can't help but think it's like sanitized Elvin Jones to a degree, but with elements of marching band percussion that maybe goes all the way back to Sousa. So there's at least some musical heritage involved. But it also comes across as cleaned up for groove-oriented ears which makes sense I guess since they do want record sales. I'm not familiar with John Davis that I know of but it's not his fault and he plays well here. It doesn't distract here though and serves the music well enough. 

I actually gave it a go, and I agree with you that this is not at all a bad record. I have only listened to his first few, which were competent. This is much better.

I don't hear Eick but I do definitely hear modern ECM, with the piano playing muted role behind the trumpet, and with more compositional subtlety than I would have expected 

[T.D.]

Off-topic, but I see Connie Han (solo and piano trio) will be nearby this summer. About 7 years older than Alexander, has recorded on Mack Avenue, seems to play a lot of standards as well as originals. Rarely mentioned on this forum except for a few old CJ Shearn posts. I'm open-minded, but will audition some online programs before spending on tickets.

[Rabshakeh]

3 minutes ago, T.D. said:

Off-topic, but I see Connie Han (solo and piano trio) will be nearby this summer. About 7 years older than Alexander, has recorded on Mack Avenue, seems to play a lot of standards as well as originals. Rarely mentioned on this forum except for a few old CJ Shearn posts. I'm open-minded, but will audition some online programs before spending on tickets.

Another one who is very popular with the Reddit crowd. 

[T.D.]

2 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

Another one who is very popular with the Reddit crowd. 

That wouldn't surprise me. I have (surprisingly) seen some boomer types mention Connie Han on another jazz forum. My cynical side says that a lot of her appeal is wardrobe-based, but that schtick has worked on a high level (Carnegie Hall, etc.) for Yuja Wang in the classical arena, so I won't automatically discount Han on that basis. 😁

[JSngry]

Yuja Wang...I had 3rd row center seats for a concert she did here. Her playing was like a machine gun, which was an interesting approach, ultimate valid as a personal interpretation. But initially arresting.

But what was really arresting was how she was able to maneuver that dress so the obviously any-second-now crotchflash never occurred.

Piano is not all that she has practiced!

[T.D.]

4 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Yuja Wang...I had 3rd row center seats for a concert she did here. Her playing was like a machine gun, which was an interesting approach, ultimate valid as a personal interpretation. But initially arresting.

But what was really arresting was how she was able to maneuver that dress so the obviously any-second-now crotchflash never occurred.

Piano is not all that she has practiced!

Yuja Wang seems to be a rather polarizing (I'll refrain from some obvious puns 🤣 here) figure in classical music, but she's a really big star.

[JSngry]

On 4/14/2025 at 7:05 AM, Dub Modal said:

Thanks to the OP and subsequent convo I checked out his most recent studio work "Continuous" with Kris Funn (b), John Davis (d) and Theo Croker (tp). Very enjoyable. I don't hear much influence from the bebop era but I do hear 70s Tyner and Chick Corea. He plays a lot of notes but I hear purpose behind them. Overall the album reminds me of Mathias Eick's records. Similar vibes. I'll definitely revisit it and would go see him live as well. 

Just a quick word on the drumming style here. Definitely modern and something that's ubiquitous these days. Sometimes I can't help but think it's like sanitized Elvin Jones to a degree, but with elements of marching band percussion that maybe goes all the way back to Sousa. So there's at least some musical heritage involved. But it also comes across as cleaned up for groove-oriented ears which makes sense I guess since they do want record sales. I'm not familiar with John Davis that I know of but it's not his fault and he plays well here. It doesn't distract here though and serves the music well enough. 

Checking that one out as we speak. Not bad, very sincere. But it's telling me a story to which I'm afraid I cannot really relate. I'm old and the notion of "jazz" today is often one that feels alien to me. But oh well about that.

The piano playing itself is pretty frilly. Frictionless. And I need some friction in my life. Not conflict, just friction. Friction is what makes things stick. This music is very pleasant, but it ain't sticking.

Sorry, but this still sounds like children's music. Maybe as he ages his music will follow suit. Or not. None of my concern one way or the other 

[Rabshakeh]

51 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Checking that one out as we speak. Not bad, very sincere. But it's telling me a story to which I'm afraid I cannot really relate. I'm old and the notion of "jazz" today is often one that feels alien to me. But oh well about that.

The piano playing itself is pretty frilly. Frictionless. And I need some friction in my life. Not conflict, just friction. Friction is what makes things stick. This music is very pleasant, but it ain't sticking.

Sorry, but this still sounds like children's music. Maybe as he ages his music will follow suit. Or not. None of my concern one way or the other 

Have you listened to his earlier records? Yo me those were completely dismissible whereas this is decent enough. It is like something on ECM. 

[JSngry]

ECM is darker and deeper than this imo.  Certainly more mature, adult.

Windham Hill maybe.

I have not been following this guy at all. The things I'd heard were not in the least encouraging.

[T.D.]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Checking that one out as we speak. Not bad, very sincere. But it's telling me a story to which I'm afraid I cannot really relate. I'm old and the notion of "jazz" today is often one that feels alien to me. But oh well about that.

The piano playing itself is pretty frilly. Frictionless. And I need some friction in my life. Not conflict, just friction. Friction is what makes things stick. This music is very pleasant, but it ain't sticking.

Sorry, but this still sounds like children's music. Maybe as he ages his music will follow suit. Or not. None of my concern one way or the other 

I just listened to that one (Continuance) on Youtube, plus some live renditions of a couple of the tunes.

I got some Windham Hill vibes from one of the live pieces (this one) but not from the album. The music's not bad, and he does seem to have his own voice (e.g. I can't say his style is "out of" big name pianists X, Y, Z, ...), but overall I found it somewhat anodyne and it didn't sustain my interest.

I'm enjoying Connie Han's playing more...some of that could be choice of material, or that she can perceptibly channel Tyner, Corea, even the dreaded OP at times, but a lot of it is that Joey's playing on that one album is a little subdued for my taste.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

2 hours ago, T.D. said:

That wouldn't surprise me. I have (surprisingly) seen some boomer types mention Connie Han on another jazz forum. My cynical side says that a lot of her appeal is wardrobe-based, but that schtick has worked on a high level (Carnegie Hall, etc.) for Yuja Wang in the classical arena, so I won't automatically discount Han on that basis. 😁

Ya think?

I've seen her live once on a whim and she can play. I don't get the attire at all.

[Dub Modal]

7 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

with the piano playing muted role behind the trumpet, and with more compositional subtlety than I would have expected 

I do think the tracks with Croker are the highlights by far. 

3 hours ago, JSngry said:

This music is very pleasant, but it ain't sticking.

I get this. It made a nice soundtrack on the way the other day though. 

 

53 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Ya think?

I've seen her live once on a whim and she can play. I don't get the attire at all.

Taking a page from Liberace's playbook maybe, only enhancing the sex appeal. I guess piano music doesn't really sell, but sex does and likely always will so put them together if you have to. I'm sure she's no slouch on the keys either. 

[felser]

Han caught my ear from a cut I heard on Sirius/XM Real Jazz ("Blues for the O.G."), and I tagged her as a subject for further research before I knew anything about her appearance/wardrobe.   I ultimately decided against buying any of her discs (though I'd certainly pick them up used at a cheap price), but she can definitely play, and seems to have more fire than Alexander.  They both have great technical chops.  I have heard a fair amount of Alexander, and, as Jim says, it's "good" but doesn't stick and doesn't compel me to seek out more.

Edited 14 hours ago by felser

[Ken Dryden]

I remember seeing Eliane Elias perform a set at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead around 1991 and she was very attractive without overdoing it. If I could figure a way to find and load the photo, I'd share it.

As fo Connie Han, I'll likely pass.

[felser]

4 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

I remember seeing Eliane Elias perform a set at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead around 1991 and she was very attractive without overdoing it. If I could figure a way to find and load the photo, I'd share it.

As fo Connie Han, I'll likely pass.

Elias overdid it more and more as she aged, at least on her CD photos.

[JSngry]

Look, if an artist can do what a paid model would otherwise do, that's money saved.