![]() Home-schooled by his parents, his piano studies and the small world of jazz in Jakarta were the center of his universe. ![]() He began playing in clubs in Bali while still 6 and shortly thereafter his family moved to the capital city of Jakarta, where he had greater opportunities to jam and begin formal jazz music studies. Learning by ear the music of the giants of jazz, he also taught himself how to improvise. By the time he was 6, Joey had taught himself how to play piano on an electronic keyboard that his parents had purchased for him because he was hyperactive and they hoped that the keyboard would allow him to focus his outsized energy. Born in Bali, not exactly the hotbed of jazz, he learned about jazz by listening to his father’s records. Proclaimed by many to be a child prodigy, his meteoric rise to international fame is a compelling story. Josiah “Joey” Alexander is a 13-year-old jazz piano player from Indonesia. Hopefully the skills that you possessed when you were 6 have been honed and enhanced and you have “raised your game,” because the marketing edge of a being a wunderkind is gone. Assuming you can successfully navigate puberty, stay focused, handle the media circus that swirls around you, deal with the expectations of family, friends, managers and agents, mature and develop as a person and definitively determine over time that you really enjoy making music, you then enter the challenging world of adulthood, where you are no longer a child, prodigy or otherwise. So, what if you are a true musical child prodigy, what does that lead to? It certainly puts you in the game at a very early age and many doors will be opened for you. The world of music (and other disciplines) is littered with kid virtuosos, who for various reasons didn’t make it in their chosen fields, or for that matter, didn’t live productive and balanced lives. The pressure placed on a youngster branded as a prodigy is enormous. It should not be forgotten that possessing prodigious talent doesn’t necessarily lead to fame and fortune. The critic is not saying that the prodigy is the best player the critic has ever heard (which would be a foolish statement about any musician, but it is regularly made), the critic is saying this kid is so good, he/she can enter the realm of adults who play classical music. When a well-respected music critic makes the pronouncement that a 6-year-old classical violinist is a child prodigy, he is opining that the young musician possesses the skills to produce a musical output comparable to what a very skilled adult violinist can produce. debut appearance at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall in 2014 where he amazed the audience with his musicality, followed by appearances before the Jazz Foundation of America at the Apollo and the Arthur Ashe Learning Center at Gotham Hall.A “child prodigy” is a young person endowed with extraordinary talent. An invitation from Wynton Marsalis led to his U.S. ![]() By 10, he was performing at jazz festivals in both Jakarta and Copenhagen. At nine, Joey won the grand prize at the first Master-Jam Fest, an all-ages competition in Ukraine which included 200 competitors from 17 countries. Joey’s dad nurtured his gift of swing and improvisation by taking him to jam sessions with veteran musicians in Bali and Jakarta. He was immediately able to pick out the melody of Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t,” but he didn’t stop there. At the age of six, Joey began teaching himself to play piano using a mini electronic keyboard given to him by his father. Donald Nixon Centre for the Arts 1523 Lower Fayetteville Road Newnan GA 30265īorn on Jon the island of Bali, pianist Joey Alexander originally learned about jazz from his dad, who exposed his son to a variety of classic albums from his extensive collection.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |