Monty Alexander

Pianist Monty Alexander's career reaches back thirty-five years. He's played with Milt Jackson and Dizzie Gillespie, and his latest album, Yard Movement, is an essential work that blends reggae, ska, old-fashioned swing and instrumental improvisation. Alexander's new show is a perfect résumé of his musical peregrinations.

Monty Alexander was born in Kingston, Jamaica on June 6, 1944. He began piano lessons at the age of six. As a teenager he was often invited to sit in with many of the prominent musicians in Jamaica. While still in his teens, he had the opportunity to enjoy the performances of Louis Armstrong and Nat "'King" Cole at the Carib Theater in Jamaica. His style of playing was deeply affected by their joyful jazz. He formed a band called "Monty and the Cyclones" which recorded songs that charted on the Jamaican Hit Parade from 1958 to 1960.

In the summer of 1963, Monty played in Las Vegas with Art Mooney's Orchestra. He was observed by Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hired Alexander to work in his club "Jilly's" in New York City. There he played for and accompanied many of the well known names in show business, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Judy Garland. Jilly's was also where Monty met Milt Jackson, who hired the pianist to work with him. Soon thereafter, he began his association with bassist Ray Brown. The two can be heard together on several Concord Jazz recordings. Monty has also performed with many other giants in jazz, including Herb Ellis, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis.

He has played on movie soundtracks for Quincy Jones and worked for producer/director Clint Eastwood on "Bird" (a motion picture about the life of Charlie Parker). In 1991, he collaborated with Natalie Cole in the tribute to her father Nat "King" Cole. The album, "Unforgettable," won seven Grammy awards. In 1993, he had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall in a tribute to the beloved jazz pianist, Erroll Garner, and in 1994 he performed at the Montreux Music Festival in Switzerland with opera singer Barbara Hendricks in a program of Duke Ellington music.

This exciting, versatile pianist has recorded prolifically for Concord Jazz since 1979, in configurations ranging from straight-ahead jazz trios to his Caribbean-flavored "Ivory & Steel" ensemble. Alexander recently re-signed with Concord Records. His February 1995 release for the label, Steamin', beautifully displays his one-of-a-kind extroverted swing and harmonic and rhythmic invention, in a wonderfully eclectic collection of tunes that, as Monty says "takes me back to significant times of my youth, early teens, or young adult years, and each of them has special personal meaning."

Taken from http://home.swipnet.se/~w-64697/alex.htm