JOEY ALEXANDER TRIO

Since Joey Alexander first encountered the piano at the age of six, his musical intuition has flourished alongside a love of jazz. His talent has taken the world by storm, stunning audiences from New York City to Copenhagen.

Last year, at the age of 12, Joey released his debut album ‘My Favourite Things’ to great acclaim. The Indonesian jazz prodigy has become one of the youngest musicians ever to be nominated for a Grammy award; and not in one, but two categories– ‘Best Improvised Jazz Solo’ and ‘Best Jazz Instrumental Album’.

Join the Joey Alexander Trio for a soulful and joyful musical adventure and witness the magic of this budding young leader, performer and composer as he presents an evening of beloved jazz standards and original compositions.

‘Technically fluent and harmonically astute’
—The New York Times

‘Magnificent not only for his virtuosity – plenty of prodigies have outsized chops – but for his maturity and perception’
–Jazz Times

JOEY ALEXANDER TRIO

DAN CHMIELINSKI
BASS

Dan ‘Chimy’ Chmielinski began his love affair with the bass at the young age of three and never looked back. Now 21, Dan is an accomplished bassist who has travelled the world performing with Etienne Charles, Bryan Carter, the Joey Alexander Trio, Sammy Miller and the Congregation, The Kyle Athayde Dance Party and the New York Jazz Symposium.

He is currently in his fourth year of the jazz studies programme at The Juilliard School, led by world-renowned trumpet player and jazz educator Wynton Marsalis. Dan has been continuously inspired and mentored by some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians and classical bassists including Richard Davis, Ben Wolfe and Jay Anderson, and is currently studying under the great Ron Carter.

Prior to attending The Juilliard School, Dan attended Glenbrook South High School, participating in their Grammy Award-winning arts programme. Dan also performed with the Midwest Young Artists Big Band (2009-2012) and Symphony Orchestra (2008-2012), the Fatum Brothers Jazz Orchestra (2008-2010) and with various other ensembles in New York and Chicago.

In the summer of 2012, Dan was one of 15 musicians selected to participate in Ravinia’s prestigious Steans Institute, where he collaborated with jazz masters David Baker, Nathan Davis, Curtis Fuller and Rufus Reid. In 2014, he was selected to receive Juilliard’s Ron Carter Scholarship.

Dan is also well-studied in composition, specifically film scoring, and has studied with composers Philip Lasser and Kendall Briggs. He recently scored NYU film-maker Connor Smith’s first feature-length film, Smoke in the Air. In addition, Dan teaches privately and educates through Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz For Young People Programme, Juilliard’s Educational Outreach Programme and Juilliard’s jazz summer programmes.

ULYSSES OWENS JR.
DRUMS

A native of Jacksonville Florida, Ulysses Owens Jr. has been described by The New York Times as an artist ‘who takes a backseat to no-one’.

His mother, the choir director of their Pentecostal congregation, brought her son to a rehearsal when he was just two years old and gave him the best seat in the house: directly behind the drummer. Her priority was keeping track of him while she was conducting, but she soon noticed he was actually keeping time. When that hired professional fell through, the boy was ready to assume his seat.

At 14, Owens was accepted to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts as a classical percussionist and, in his freshman year, surpassed all expectation by winning a seat in the school’s top-tier jazz band. ‘That first opportunity led me directly to jazz,’ he recalls. Wynton Marsalis played Jacksonville that same year, and their meeting became further assurance for Owens that his dreams were attainable.

He has steadily established himself as a leader in his generation of jazz artists, admired for his sensitive, fiery, and complex playing, vivid display of textural nuance, and gift for propelling a band with charisma and integrity. Both humble in person and imposing behind a kit, Owens is a two-time Grammy® Award winner who has earned his stripes as a member of bassist Christian McBride’s acclaimed trio and the driving force of McBride’s famed big band. He released his debut album, It’s Time For U, in 2009 and his second album, Unanimous, in 2012.

In 2010, Ulysses received his first Grammy® for his performance on Kurt Elling’s Dedicated To You, and his second Grammy® for the Christian McBride Big Band album, The Good Feeling. This year, he garnered a third nomination for Christian McBride’s Trio album, Out Here. This year marks the release of two new albums as a leader: his third album, Onward and Upward, and Time is Now, the debut album of New Century Jazz Quintet, co-led with Takeshi Obayashi for the Japanese label, Spice of Life.

In 2008, Owens and his family founded the non-for-profit organisation, Don’t Miss a Beat, Inc., with the mission of combining music and art with a focus on academic achievement, civic engagement, and empowering inner city students to strive for their dreams. Owens has taken a hands-on role in the strategy and daily initiatives of the organisation. It has served over 500 students since 2008 and has been endorsed by the City of Jacksonville.

Owens has been honoured with a 2014 Global Music Award, 2013 ASCAP Plus Award, designated a 2014 Downbeat Rising Star and appeared as a TED X Jacksonville performer. In 2015, he continued touring with the McBride Trio, and remains in demand for new projects, including his first Artist-in-Residency at the Park Avenue Armory in their Under Construction series.