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Draft:Ricky Alexander

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Ricky Alexander
Born1989 (age 34–35)
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)clarinet, saxophone
Years active2000s–present
LabelsTurtle Bay Records
Websiterickyalexanderjazz.com

Ricky Alexander (born 1989) is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist based in New York City.

Early life and Education

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Alexander grew up in the Washington, D.C. area.[1] He received a Bachelor's Degree in Jazz from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Master's Degree in Jazz Performance from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[1] He was initially encouraged toward an interest in jazz by his grandmother. [2]

Career

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Since coming to New York, Alexander has worked as a sideman to artists including Terry Waldo, Glenn Crytzer, Sweet Megg, Dandy Wellington, Danny Jonokuchi, and Mike Davis. He has also played in big bands including Vince Giordano's Nighthawks Orchestra.[1] In addition to leading the Early Bird Jazz Band,[2] Alexander plays and releases music under his own name on Turtle Bay Records.[3] There, with Sweet Megg, he also co-hosts "On The Back Porch,"[4] a web series that interviews and showcases trad jazz musicians working today.

Musical Style

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Alexander's style "skillfully revive[s] the busy sound of jazz in the 1930s, a style that emanated from speakeasies in Chicago and Kansas City and wound up in New York."[5] His playing "hint[s] at predecessors like Ted Lewis and Benny Goodman, but only intermittently; as lead soloist he seeks to maintain, it seems, the lighthearted zeitgeist of each tune, whatever its era of origin."[6] In general, Ricky plays trad jazz and standards faithfully, but with modern influences.

Discography[7]

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  • Strike Up The Band (2019)
  • I'm In Love Again (2021) with Sweet Megg
  • Just Found Joy, to be released in 2024[8]

About

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bebco, Joe (July 18, 2019) "Ricky Alexander Strike Up The Band". SyncopatedTimes.
  2. ^ a b Doyle, Dave (June 30, 2021) "Sweet Megg and Ricky Alexander Mine the Old to Make Something New". SyncopatedTimes.
  3. ^ "Our Artists: Ricky Alexander".Turtle Bay Records
  4. ^ "On The Back Porch".Turtle Bay Records
  5. ^ Myers, Marc (June 18, 2021) "Sweet Megg & Ricky Alexander". AllAboutJazz.
  6. ^ Lorge, Suzanne (July, 2021) "Sweet Megg & Ricky Alexander: I'm In Love Again". Downbeat.
  7. ^ "Spotify – Web Player". Spotify.
  8. ^ "Photos". Ricky Alexander.



Category:1989 births Category:University System of Maryland alumni Category:New York University alumni Category:Living people Category:American clarinetists Category:American saxophonists Category:American male jazz musicians Category:21st-century American male musicians Category:American jazz clarinetists Category:American jazz saxophonists Category:21st-century American composers