JOEY ALEXANDER THE GREAT

CAN YOU REALLY APPRECIATE HOW TALENTED THIS KID IS?

In a previous post I did on child prodigies I mentioned this young kid but didn’t really give you the full scoop on this little miracle of nature.

This kid literally came out of nowhere (Indonesia of all places) and is playing jazz piano that rivals the best today or any other period has offered. Now that’s a bold statement but seriously I’m not kidding. Ask Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis and counless other jazz masters who have played with or come in contact with this little guy.

This kid is unreal. He plays not only with highly tuned technique and knowledge but with finesse, feeling and soul. Damn, he’s only 13.

Whether you know anything about jazz or nothing at all about jazz, when you listen and watch this kid, it is mesmerizing and totally unbelievable what you are witnessing. The mental and physical toughness it takes to play this type of music is one thing but the emotionallity and mindful peace that the music demands is not for the light hearted, never mind a 13 year old (actually he was doing it at age 8…ya I said 8.

So who is this kid?
Indonesian, Josiah Alexander Sila, born June 25, 2003, taught himself to play the piano by age 6. His father bought him jazz records which he learned to play by ear on a miniature electric keyboard. He was already playing for Herbie Hancock at age 8. He and his parents moved to New York in 2014 and he released his first album in 2015 at age 11. Is that extraordinary or what?

Allen Morrison of Down Beat magazine said at a performance of Joey’s: “If the word ‘genius’ still means anything, it applies to this prodigy. He played his own solo variations on ‘Round Midnight’ with a breathtaking precocity and mastery of several decades of piano style.
Marsalis said of him, “There has never been anyone that you can think of who could play like that at his age. I loved everything about his playing – his rhythm, his confidence, his understanding of the music.”
Newport Festival producer George Wein said “Alexander distinguished himself with “the maturity of his harmonic approach”.