At age 19, old enough to vote, but not to drink at the clubs that he plays at, Joey Alexander has come of age to where he is now evaluated by his own talents and not just as a “jazz prodigy”. That’s always a tough act to follow, as now he’s “just another pianist”. So what is distinguishing this young man at this stage in his career with this album?
Well, he’s still got jaw dropping technique, but so do a lot of artists. What’s always stood out about Mr. Alexander is that he never sounds like a chop master; he has the maturity of when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. He’s also an impressive composer, penning all of the material here for his core trio of Kendrick Scott/dr and Larry Grenadier/b along with guests Gilad Hekselman/g and Chris Potter/sax.
Alexander shows his strengths on a trio, thoughtful around Scott’s brushes on “Hesitation”, glistening around the cascading pulse of “ Angel Eyes” and showing a darker side as he sparkles around Scott’s energy after taking the baton from Grenadier’s intro on “Dear Autumn”. Potter brings some Coltranesque dynamism, propelled by Alexanders widely spread fingers on “ Winter Blues” , and Heckselman’s guitar is liquid as Alexander switches to keyboards on the upbeat “Summer”. The two guests jump in on the intricate, loose and intuitive atmosphere of “ Rise Up” with Scott creating a restless undercurrent.
The key question with an artist such as Alexander is “would I like him as much not knowing about the novelty of such a young musician?”. Alexander passes all Blindfold tests with this one.