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 Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone
and a robust
melodic and harmonic imagination, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander has been
exploring new musical worlds from the outset. He started out on piano as a
six-year-old, took up clarinet at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12,
and converted to tenor when jazz became his obsession during his one year at
the University of Indiana, Bloomington (1986-87). At William Paterson
College in New Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Harold
Mabern, Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others. "The people I listened to in
college are still the cats that are influencing me today," says Alexander.
"Monk, Dizzy, Sonny Stitt, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Joe
Henderson--the legacy left by Bird and all the bebop pioneers, that language
and that feel, that's the bread and butter of everything I do. George
Coleman remains a big influence because of his very hip harmonic approach,
and I'm still listening all the time to Coltrane because I feel that even in
the wildest moments of his mid- to late-Sixties solos I can find these
little kernels of melodic information and find ways to employ them in my own
playing."
During the 1990s, after placing second behind Joshua Redman in the 1991
Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition, Alexander threw himself
into the whirlwind life of a professional jazz musician. He played with
organ trios on the South Side of Chicago, made his recording debut in 1991
with Charles Earland on Muse Records, and cut his first album as leader in
1992 (Straight Up for Delmark). More recordings followed for numerous
labels, including Milestone and others, leading to 1997's Man with a Horn;
the 1998 collaborative quartet session with George Mraz, John Hicks, and
Idris Muhammad, Solid!; and, that same year, the first recording by One For
All, Alexander's ongoing band with Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, Joe Farnsworth,
Peter Washington, and Dave Hazeltine.
 Eric has appeared in many capacities on record, including leader, sideman,
producer as well as composing a number of the tunes he records. By now,
Alexander has lost count of how many albums feature his playing; he guesses
60 or 70. While he has garnered critical acclaim from every corner, what has
mattered most has been to establish his own voice within the illustrious
bop-based jazz tradition.
In 2004, Eric signed an exclusive contract with the New York-based
independent jazz label, HighNote Records where he has amassed a considerable
discography of critically-acclaimed recordings. Most recent among them is
“Temple of Olympic Zeus” (HCD 7172), “The Battle” with Vincent Herring and
Mike LeDonne (HCD 7137) and “It’s all in the Game” (HCD 7148) with Harold
Mabern.
Eric continues to tour the world over to capacity audiences. Using NYC as
his home base he can regularly be seen in the NY clubs including ongoing
appearances at Smoke.
For further information contact Barney Fields, HighNote Records (212)
873-2020
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