There are four artists who received Grammy nominations when they were twelve years old. Zac Hanson (along with his MMMBopping brothers), Billy Gillman (who started as a country singer and reappeared on The Voice in Season 11) and Michael Jackson (whom, I assume, needs no introduction.) The fourth person on that list is jazz pianist and composer Joey Alexander who received two nominations for his album My Favorite Things.
Now a seasoned veteran on the cusp of turning 15, Alexander is back with his fourth recording, Eclipse, which is due for release by Motéma Music on May 4th. Alexander will be performing on Friday at the Musco Center for the Arts in Orange. He’ll be at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego on Saturday. He jumps up to UC Santa Barbara for a gig on Sunday. For those in the Bay Area, he’ll be at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland on May 12 and 13th.
I spoke with the impressively talented self-taught pianist, composer and bandleader by phone from his home in New York. We discussed the music he choses to cover, the music he choses to write and the impact of last summer’s solar eclipse on his recording session.
You were born in Denpasar, Bali and developed your interest in music by listening to your father’s jazz records there. The first track and original composition on Eclipse is entitled “Bali.” What would you like listeners to understand about your home and your relationship to the island from this track?
For me, Bali is a place to relax, you know. The special thing about Bali is the ocean, the nature, the mountains and also the culture. The arts I grew up in, and all those things, they stay close to me. Sometimes I feel it wherever I go. I wrote that song and have that feeling.
You were at Dreamland Studios in Woodstock during last summer’s eclipse. Were you planning this session around the eclipse? Did you think it would inspire a track on the album? (Which was improvised after the eclipse by Alexander and his musicians.)
I don’t think we planned for that. At the same time, it happened to be the same day as the eclipse. I believe it is God’s will and when I played it I felt God’s power. The beauty of all which is really important to me. It’s really special that I could have the confidence to do it. It was very spontaneous, we just played and we didn’t plan anything. We just went with it and trusted each other.
Can you listen to the track now and recall exactly what you were felling as you went into the studio and just improvised this piece after watching the eclipse?
Not exactly. It was definitely my first time seeing [an eclipse.] I didn’t really see the total eclipse, but I could see it as pretty dark when I saw it up there. I was inspired by that and I just decided to make this piece in the moment. It was really inspiring to witness that.
I know how important religion is in your life. Dreamland is housed in the former St. John’s Church from 1896. Did you feel a special connection in that room given its history?
I felt different and I felt that special connection being in a church and when I play at the studio I still feel like sometimes I’m playing at a church. I love being in the studio, it makes me a better player.
In addition to your original compositions, you have covers of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and the standard “The Very Thought of You” written by Ray Noble. How do you selects songs to cover and why these two?
I love those songs and I always wanted to record “Blackbird,” which is really also this beautiful story written by Paul McCartney during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. It’s a powerful message and that’s the reason I wanted to play it. “The Very Thought of You,” which has Joshua Redman on it, I really love the melody in that ballad. It’s very good. My Dad and I listen to a lot of music and we listen to standards. I guess I happened to have listened to that song.
As passionate as you are about your music, do you still carve out time to be a teenager?
Oh yes, absolutely. I still go to movie theatres and I love to play with action figures. I have a collection of games on my iPad. Sometimes I do that more than I practice, to be honest. I spend about three hours practicing. Not every day, but I try.
Do you have a basic set list or do you change things up from venue to venue?
The repertoire today would be mostly from the new album, mostly my new compositions. With different audiences I play the same songs, but sometimes it can be different. I always play with the same musicians so it’s nice to try different versions of the same song. That’s what jazz is…always something new.