Following their stint at the 2015 Monterey Jazz Festival, the Monty Alexander Trio, featuring Jeff Hamilton (drums) and John Clayton (bass), played to a sold out house at Yoshi’s Oakland on Sept. 23.
Alexander,
a Grammy-nominated, Jamaica-born pianist/composer, told the story of
his illustrious career on the black and white keys of a Steinway &
Sons grand piano. The trio celebrated the music of Duke Ellington,
George Gershwin, Nat “King” Cole, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder
and Bob Marley.
Alexander,
71, is perhaps the only artist to maintain careers concurrently in
the genres of jazz and reggae, collaborating with the likes of Dizzie
Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Ranglin and Sly and
Robbie to name a few. As a trio, Alexander, Clayton and Hamilton have
been playing together since 1975. In 2006, Alexander recorded one of
his finest reggae albums, “Concrete Jungle: The Music of Bob
Marley,” recorded at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston and featuring
some of the hottest players in contemporary reggae and jazz--
Delfeayo Marsalis (trombone), Dean Fraser (saxophone) Glen Browne
(bass), Junior Jazz (guitar) Herlin Riley and Rolando Alphanso Wilson
(drums) and Luciano (vocals) and more .
At Yoshi’s, the room became silent as Alexander played the first
chords of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” and segued into a
tribute to the reggae icon with one of his most popular ballads, “No
Woman, No Cry.”
“Yardie!”
a man called out from the audience.
“Yeah
mon, yuh hear what me a seh; that gentleman is acknowledging the fact
that we come from yard, and the yard is the nexus of the house; it’s
better than the kitchen,” said Alexander, in a regal, uptown
Jamaican accent. “Jamaica gave us riddim.”
Alexander
performed one of his original compositions, the one drop-infused
“Think Twice,” which is based on Cole Porter’s “Love for
Sale.” Alexander added a distinct Caribbean flavor to Charlie
Chaplin’s somber ballad “Smile,” featuring an ethereal bass
solo by Clayton. Alexander showed off his R&B chops with a lively
version of Stevie Wonder’s 1976 hit, “Isn’t She Lovely.”
At
age 18, while Alexander was performing at a bar in Florida, Frank
Sinatra happened to walk in and change the course of his life by
taking him from saloons to “high class joints.” Impressed by the
young man’s style on the piano, Sinatra flew Alexander to New
York, and he went on to play with Ole Blue Eyes for two-three years
on and off. Alexander honored Sinatra’s centennial birthday with
hits such as “Mack the Knife,” “Night and Day” and “Strangers
in the Night.” For more on Monty Alexander concert dates, go towww.montyalexander.com,
Yoshi’s line up, www.yoshis.com.
Hear the music of Monty Alexander on Streetwise Radio’s Jazz Café.
