Eric Alexander

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Eric Alexander

Eric Wells Alexander (* 4. August 1968 in Galesburg , Illinois ) is an American jazz - saxophonist ( tenor ) of Bop .

Life

Alexander began with the piano, clarinet and (at the age of twelve) alto saxophone, but switched to tenor saxophone and - after classical training - to jazz during his studies at the University of Indiana in 1986/87. He continued his studies at William Paterson College in New Jersey with Joe Lovano , Rufus Reid and the pianist Harold Mabern . In 1991 he was second in the Thelonious Monk saxophone competition (behind Joshua Redman ) and made his first recordings with Charles Earland on Muse Records ( Unforgettable ) in the same year . His first album as Leader ( Straight up ) was released in 1992 on Delmark Records . In 1998 he recorded with George Mraz , John Hicks and Idris Muhammad Man with a Horn (Milestone) and with his own sextet One for All ( Jim Rotondi trumpet, Steve Davis trombone, Joe Farnsworth drums, Peter Washington bass, David Hazeltine piano) first of a series of albums ( Optimism ). He also plays in the Eric Alexander Quartet with Mabern, Farnsworth and changing bassists ( John Webber , Peter Washington, Nat Reeves ). In 2004 he signed an exclusive contract with HighNote Records (e.g. Nightlife in Tokyo 2003, It's All In the Game 2006).

Alexander lives in New York. With Stewy von Wattenwyl , he leads the Generations Quartet with Reggie Johnson and Kevin Chesham .

In 2003 he was “Musician of the Year” at Jazz Week . In addition to the classic bop tradition, his influences include George Coleman (“ because of his very hip harmonic approach ”) and John Coltrane (in the “ small cores of melodic information ” that he found in his solos in the 1960s).

Discographic notes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Review of the album It's All In the Game at Jazzpolice ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jazzpolice.com