News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Aug. 17, 2017: A French journalist’s comparison of the fluidity of the strides of recently retired Jamaican Olympic legend Usain Bolt to the agile hands of Grammy-nominated, Jamaican jazz great, Monty Alexander, on a piano, has left the virtuoso speechless.
Alexander said he was shocked recently, when while reading journalist David Gakunzi’s piece, ‘Bolt: La course manqué,’ he realized the writer had compared his hands, furiously playing one of his classics, ‘Take The A Train,’ to the strides of the world’s greatest athlete.
“To conquer the sky once more … his steps as fluid as the agile hands of Monty Alexander revisiting ‘Take the A train’ on a furious piano, marking history one last time,” Gakunzi wrote in French in his August 14, 2017 piece in La Regle Du Jeu.
“It is definitely a unique comparison,” Alexander commented recently. “I never thought of it that way but I know for me, similarly to Usain Bolt, I want to help to bring more good will and see Jamaica rise to its highest potential wherever I go.”
Alexander, who has been presented with the Commander In The Order Of Distinction for outstanding services to his homeland as a worldwide music ambassador, is set for a six-city tour across the US, beginning tomorrow, August 17th.
The one-of-a-kind musician will play the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 17, 2017. Tickets for this one-time performance are $43.50 – $48.50 and can be purchased here.
On Friday, August 18th, Alexander will play one show only at the Smith Center in Las Vegas from 7 p.m. Tickets are $39 – $59 and can be purchased here. On Saturday, August 19th, the man widely known as an upper echelon master of the swinging piano trio function, will travel to California for three performances. On Saturday night at 5 and 8 p.m., respectively, he will play the Lesher Theatre. Tickets are on sale now and can be bought here.
On Sunday August 20th, Alexander will play a sold-out matinee show at Jazz at Filoli in Woodwide, CA and on Monday, August 21st, the top pianist will play the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in n Santa Cruz, CA from 7 p.m. Tickets are $30-35 and can be purchased here.
Alexander will wrap up his six-city performance with back-to-back shows at Dazzle’s Jazz in Denver, CO from Tuesday August 22nd to Wednesday, Aug. 23rd. Showtime nightly is 8:30 p.m. and tickets from $20 – $45 can be obtained here now.
ABOUT ALEXANDER
Alexander is one of the most sought after jazz pianists in the world and is ranked in the top five in ‘The Fifty Greatest Piano Players of All Time.’ Soon after moving to the U.S. from his native Jamaica, his amazing talent caught the ears of Frank Sinatra and Jilly Rizzo, and he was hired as house pianist at Jilly’s, New York City’s famed club, where he worked with some of the top names in jazz. Fifty-five years after he moved to the United States from Kingston, Jamaica, he has become an American classic. Whether playing straight jazz, Jamaican Reggae, Soul, or the music of his idols, Nat ‘King’ Cole and Frank Sinatra, Alexander’s energy and vibrancy, coupled with his musical prowess on the piano, will astound fans anywhere. He tours the world relentlessly with various projects, delighting a global audience drawn to his effervescent personality and soulful message. His spirited conception is one informed by the timeless verities: endless melody-making, effervescent grooves, sophisticated voicings, a romantic spirit, and a consistent predisposition. As Alexander, himself, sums it up: “To build up the heat and kick up a storm.”
For more on Monty Alexander and his music visit him on YouTube or at https://www.montyalexander.com. You can also like him on Facebook at facebook.com/officialmontyalexander or keep up to date on his performance on Twitter at @montyHKE.
