Monty Alexander
@ the Cadogan Hall
19 November 2013

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Biography

Monty Alexander was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. He began piano lessons at the age of six. As a youngster he would sit in and listen to the many jazz musicians who worked in nightclubs and hotels in the area. He was fortunate to be able to witness performances from the likes of Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong.

Alexander went on to form the group Monty and the Cyclones. Between 1958-1960 the group scored many hits in the Jamaican charts. Alexander went to the United States towards the tail end of 1961, where he would be successful at landing himself a gig with Art Mooney’s orchestra in Las Vegas. Alexander would soon progress to work for New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo, as the house pianist. This position would see him accompany many performers such as Frank Sinatra. Alexander continued to impress listeners and further meetings and collaborations were born. He would go on to work with Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Sonny Rollins.

Alexander’s growth and collaborations have continued throughout his prolific career. In 1991 he worked with Natalie Cole on her tribute album to her father, Nat “King” Cole. The album Unforgettable won seven Grammy awards. In 1993, he performed at Carnegie Hall in a tribute to the great jazz pianist Erroll Garner.

In August 1996, Alexander performed George Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” with a full symphony orchestra directed by Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. By the end of that same year, he had recorded nearly sixty CDs under his own name, and was frequently performing at leading festivals and music venues such as the Montreux Jazz Festival.

To date he has worked with a remarkably diverse number of artists from around the globe such as Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Ernst Ranglin Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, Sonny Rollins and many more.