I have a longstanding rule regarding child prodigies who emerge on waves of publicity: Approach with caution.
When the eleven-year-old Indonesian pianist Joey Alexander materialized last year in a flurry of accolades from Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock and others, I kept him at arm’s length. Now, I have paid close attention to his debut album, My Favorite Things, and his second, Countdown. When someone proclaims the next new jazz giant, I will not abandon the practice of skepticism but I am happy to praise Mr. Alexander as that rare surprise, an extremely young soloist who materializes with developed technical and creative skills. Whether he will develop into a jazz master, no one can say. At this juncture, he is a good player, worthy of the attention he is getting.
Recently, some of that attention came from the veteran jazz journalist Paul Conley of Capitol Radio in Sacramento, California. With Paul’s permission, here is a link to his report.
In his debut album, Joey Alexander chose to open with John Coltrane’s daunting “Giant Steps.” His accompanists were bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr.
I agree with with your premise that young “prodigies” should be brought along slowly—”dues” must be paid along with some longevity before A new Tatum or Pres is bestowed on them. However, young Mr. Alexander shows much promise.
Doug, Can you please elborate on what you mean by “approach with caution?”
Ignore the hype. Concentrate on the quality of the music.
Joey is the “real deal”. I saw him play at the Monterey Jazz Festival Gala honoring Quincy Jones and MC’d by Clint Eastwood and the kid was phenomenal. His talents are authentic and the fruits of a very active and fertile mind. Joey doesn’t just string riffs together. His improvisational skills are impressive and very sophisticated. You close your eyes and hear a 50-year old player. You open your eyes and see this talented youngster and you start believing in old souls. I met him and his parents a couple of weeks ago. He is such a nice kid and his folks are so supportive. My only worry is that he, as other musically or athletically talented youngsters, will be exploited before they are old enough to take charge of their own lives. Right now he just boggles the mind and you wonder if “paying his dues” will actually help his playing…or hinder it.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Lee. In putting together the story I stood about 10 feet from Joey, recording him as he played a couple of numbers on the upright piano that had been wheeled in to the school’s gym for the student assembly. I got chills. And it wasn’t because I was being dazzled by technique since I was on the other side of the piano and couldn’t even see his hands. You’re absolutely right about his folks, generous and humble, just like their son. What really struck me was when I looked over at them standing along the outer wall as Joey played. They both had their eyes closed and were grooving to the infectious beat. Me too. Joey impressed me in so many ways, especially away from the piano. When we sat for our 15-minute interview he talked about the importance of listening, showing gratitude to his fellow musicians when they play together, and acknowledging that his abilities are a gift from God.
Whatever happened to Craig Hundley?
It was inevitable that in this context someone would bring him up. The answer is, plenty, following his heavily-hyped debut as a boy-wonder jazz pianist. You can read about him here. You can listen to a track from his debut album here.
Hmmm…..modestly impressive, even if he did write the Wikipage himself…. But why the name change, one wonders.