Monty Alexander

Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann, and Frank Sinatra. Alexander also sings and plays the melodica. He is known for his surprising musical twists, bright rhythmic sense, and intense dramatic musical climaxes. His recording career has covered many of the well-known American songbook standards, jazz standards, pop hits, and Jamaican songs from his original homeland. Alexander has resided in New York City for many years and performs frequently throughout the world at jazz festivals and clubs.

Biography
Alexander was born on 6 June 1944 in Kingston, Jamaica. He discovered the piano when he was four years old and seemed to have a knack for picking melodies out by ear. His mother sent him to classical music lessons at the age of six and he became interested in jazz piano at the age of 14. Monty boarded at DeCarteret College in Mandeville, then continued his education and musical prowess at Jamaica College. He began playing in clubs, and on recording sessions by Clue J & His Blues Blasters, subbing for Aubrey Adams, whom he describes as his hero, when he was unable to play. Two years later, Alexander directed a dance orchestra (Monty and the Cyclones) and played in the local clubs covering much of the 1960s early rock and pop dance hits. Performances at the Carib Theatre in Jamaica by Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole left a strong impression on the young pianist.

Alexander and his family moved to Miami, Florida, in 1961, where he played in various nightclubs. One night Monty was brought to the attention of Frank Sinatra and Frank's friend Jilly Rizzo. They were there to see the act in the next room, a Sinatra imitator. Somebody suggested they also check out the kid playing piano in the front room bar, "He's swinging the room pretty good" they said. Thus, Monty was invited to New York City in 1962 to become the house pianist for Jilly Rizzo's night club and restaurant simply called "Jilly's." In addition to performing with Frank Sinatra there, Alexander also met and became friends with bassist Ray Brown and vibist Milt Jackson. He also became friendly with Miles Davis, both men sharing a love of watching boxing matches.

In Los Angeles, in 1964, Alexander recorded his first album, Alexander the Great, for Pacific Jazz, at the age of 20. The album was very energetic and upbeat, with the climax tune being "Blues for Jilly".

He recorded with Milt Jackson in 1969, with Ernest Ranglin in 1974 and in Europe the same year with Ed Thigpen. Alexander toured regularly in Europe and recorded there, mostly with his classic trio for MPS Records. He also toured around 1976 with the steelpan player Othello Molineaux.

In the mid-1970s, he formed a group consisting of John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums, creating a stir on the jazz-scene in Europe. Their most famous collaboration is Montreux Alexander, recorded during the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1976.

A year later in 1977, Alexander recorded again with Milt Jackson on the LP Soul Fusion. Jackson used Alexander's trio (with bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton, future big-band co-leaders) for the Pablo recorded LP which was later issued on CD through Original Jazz Classics. Much of the material is obscure (including Jackson's three originals), with Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" being the only jazz standard on the album.

Alexander has also played with several singers, among them Ernestine Anderson and Mary Stallings, as well as with other important leaders (Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Jimmy Griffin and Frank Morgan). In his successive trios, Alexander has played frequently with musicians associated with Oscar Peterson: Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Mads Vinding, Ed Thigpen and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.

Alexander formed a reggae band in the 1990s, featuring all Jamaican musicians. He has released several reggae albums, including Yard Movement (1996), Stir It Up (1999, a collection of Bob Marley songs), Monty Meets Sly & Robbie (2000), and Goin' Yard (2001). He collaborated again with Ranglin in 2004 on the album Rocksteady.

Personal life
Alexander married the American jazz guitarist Emily Remler in 1981. They divorced in 1985. Alexander lives in Manhattan and is married to Italian jazz singer Caterina Zapponi.

Awards and honours

 * Musgrave Medal, Institute of Jamaica, 2000
 * Best Live Performance Album, Independent Music Awards, Harlem-Kingston Express, 2012
 * Grammy-nominated 2011 CD, Harlem-Kingston Express
 * 2014 Soul Train Award-nominated followup, Harlem-Kingston Express, Vol. 2: The River Rolls On, both released on Motéma Records
 * 2017 Alexander was conferred with the Order of Griffin-Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Jamaica College Old Boys Association of New York.
 * In January 2023, Alexander was appointed a Member of the Order of Jamaica (OJ).

As sideman
With Ernest Ranglin
 * Ranglypso (MPS, 1974)
 * Below the Bassline (Island, 1996)
 * Rocksteady (Telarc, 2004)
 * Order of Distinction (Milk River Music, 2009)

With Milt Jackson
 * That's the Way It Is (Impulse!, 1969)
 * Just the Way It Had to Be (Impulse!, 1969)
 * Soul Fusion (Pablo, 1977)
 * Montreux '77 (Pablo, 1977)
 * A London Bridge (Pablo, 1982)
 * Mostly Duke (Pablo, 1982)
 * Memories of Thelonious Sphere Monk (Pablo, 1982)

With Ray Brown
 * Live at the Concord Jazz Festival (Concord, 1979)
 * Summerwind (Jeton, 1981) 2LP
 * A Ray Brown 3 (Concord, 1983)
 * Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, & Russell Malone (Telarc, 2002)
 * Walk On (Telarc, 2003)

With Tony Bennett
 * A Swingin' Christmas (Featuring The Count Basie Big Band) (Columbia, 2008)

With others
 * 1969 The Original Jam Sessions 1969, Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby
 * 1971 Smackwater Jack, Quincy Jones
 * 1977 Dizzy Gillespie Montreux Jam, Dizzy Gillespie
 * 1979 Somewhere in My Lifetime, Phyllis Hyman
 * 1980 Royal Blue, Marshal Royal
 * 1980 Never Make Your Move Too Soon, Ernestine Anderson
 * 1982 Goal, Dieter Goal
 * 1986 Go for Whatcha' Know, Jimmy Smith
 * 1987 Spontaneous Combustion, Barney Kessel
 * 1989 Chicken Scratch, Lee "Scratch" Perry
 * 1990 Snowy Morning Blues, Howard Alden
 * 1991 Unforgettable: With Love, Natalie Cole
 * 1994 That's Funky, Benny Golson
 * 1994 Hi-Bop Ska!, The Skatalites
 * 1996 Landmarks, Clifton Anderson
 * 1996 Manhattan Moods, Mary Stallings
 * 1996 Verve Jazz Masters #59, Toots Thielemans
 * 2000 One on One, Clark Terry
 * 2000 That's Funky, Benny Golson
 * 2001 Universal Lovesongs, Caterina Zapponi
 * 2002 Kristian Jørgensen Meets Monty Alexander, Kristian Jørgensen
 * 2003 Tribute to Charlie Parker, Frank Morgan
 * 2004 With All My Heart, Harvey Mason
 * 2005 In the Rhythm, Suzanne Couch
 * 2006 Chuck Redd Remembers Barney Kessel: Happy All the Time, Chuck Redd
 * 2010 Back in the Saddle Again, Bucky Pizzarelli
 * 2010 You Are There: Duets, Hilary Kole
 * 2011 Kaiso, Etienne Charles
 * 2011 Man With the Hat, Grace Kelly/Phil Woods

Filmography

 * Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty – Live at Montreux (1994)
 * New Morning – The Paris Concert (2008)