Sunday, July 09, 2017

City Lights

Joey Alexander

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was mesmerized by this kid's brilliant talent and (to my ear) flawless comprehension of a style of music I find near impossible to appreciate. I had to look him up. Bravo!
NYT May 2015: Joey Alexander, and 11-Year-Old Jazz Sensation

Pastorius said...

Thanks. He is incredible, isn't he?

And, I can not be sure, but I think he is an Indonesian Jew, which is an irony I find particularly funny.

Anonymous said...

Indonesian Jew? What are the chances?

Yes, the boy is incredibly gifted - a natural!

Pastorius said...

Alright. I had read about him before, but his bio has been more filled out now.

His last name is NOT Alexander. That is his middle name. His full name is Josiah Alexander Sila.

Sila does not, to my ears, sound like an Indonesian name, yet his family is from Indonesia.

Here is his bio:

Josiah Alexander Sila[1] (born June 25, 2003),[2] better known as Joey Alexander, is an Indonesian jazz pianist and child prodigy. He became the first Indonesian musician to chart on Billboard 200 when his album, My Favorite Things, debuted at number 174.[3]

Joey Alexander taught himself to play jazz at age six, by listening to his father's classic jazz albums.[4] He won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Master-Jam Fest. In 2014, Wynton Marsalis invited him to play at Jazz at Lincoln Center, which, according to The New York Times, made him an "overnight sensation".[1] He released his first album, My Favorite Things, in 2015 at age 11.[1] Joey Alexander played at the Montreal and Newport Jazz Festivals in 2015, and has performed for Herbie Hancock, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Awards and nominations
4 References
5 External links
Early life[edit]
Josiah Alexander Sila was born in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, to parents Denny Sila and Farah Leonora Urbach, who ran an adventure tourism business.[1] His father was an amateur musician,[5] and both parents were fans of jazz, particularly Louis Armstrong. He is the nephew of the rock singer Nafa Urbach,[6] and the Indonesian musician and songwriter Alam Urbach. He learned about jazz by listening to classic albums his father gave him.[1][5] By age six, he had taught himself to play piano using a miniature, electric keyboard his father brought home for him,[4][7] learning by ear compositions such as Thelonious Monk's "Well, You Needn't" and other songs from his father's jazz collection.[7] He later said learning the instrument came naturally to him,[4] and considers his ability "a gift from God".[7] He cites as influences John Coltrane, Harry Connick, Jr., Bill Evans, and Herbie Hancock, and he particularly admires Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, and McCoy Tyner.[5][6]

Pastorius said...

His father is Denny Sila. That sounds like a FILIPINO name to me.

His wife's name is Farah, which is a Jewish name. HOWEVER, that may also be an Islamic name. I do not know.

In other words, I don't know shit.

;-)