New York was the place where all my idols had lived. “From the start, it was where I wanted to live. And you also have to keep focused on the creative side of your music.”īut she never considered another option. You have to find a way to pay the high rent in New York. “You have to go to jam sessions and meet the right people. “It’s challenging for a musician,” she says. Saxophonist Melissa Aldana, recent winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition, followed a similar path, moving from her native Chile to study music in Boston, and then taking the plunge into the New York jazz scene. None of that would have happened if the Alexander family were still living in Bali. His debut album earned two Grammy nominations, and Alexander performed on the TV broadcast, reaching an audience of 25 million people-and earning a standing ovation. He became the first Indonesian musician with a record on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. How did it work out? At age 11, Alexander received a glowing write-up in The New York Times, a record contract and headline billing at the Newport Jazz Festival. A year later, Alexander’s parents moved to New York, realizing that even the greatest prodigy in jazz needed what only the city could offer. At age 8, this formidable youngster had already caught the attention of jazz icon Herbie Hancock, and at 9, he beat out 43 musicians (of all ages) from 17 countries to win a prestigious European competition. The recent sensation over Indonesian jazz prodigy Joey Alexander is a case in point. Great jazz artists often don’t come from Manhattan, but they struggle to build a reputation and gain career traction if they don’t come to Manhattan. Yet one thing hasn’t changed on the jazz scene: New York still sits on top of the heap. Almost every major city on the planet now has homegrown talent worthy of a worldwide audience. As a jazz critic, I now need to pay attention to the talent coming out of New Zealand, Indonesia, Lebanon, Chile, and other places previously outside my purview.
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