Joey Alexander-More Than a Boy Genius

He plays jazz as if he invented it Arpeggios augmented, minored and majored Transferring from one chord to another Like flashes of lightning extracting emotional pearls all from from such a young mind One marvels how and from where did this child Learn to play such complex music On what spaceship did he arrive? Where indeed did he come from? Unbelievable technique emanates from a small child's fingers Intricate sounds emerge from a mind not yet fully developed Beats never missed Always alert guiding his musicians with a genius seldom heard in a youngster The stage he commands demands mature efforts a four foot tall boy towered over by six foot men well revered in their own musical spheres show unprecedented respect Adult grown men don’t bother with children but the old saying goes, a child shall lead them Joey leads the way, he knows what he wants and they follow Like disciples following the master He plays jazz as if he were on fire Or a devil chord was chasing him His repertoire has preceded everything in jazz New compositions being composed swirl in his head His fast tunes streak across the ears as if they were ablaze I asked him why his technical speed seemed to be chasing devils He gave a shy smile and without a word Began playing a sublime, improvised melodic ballad His choice of chords and combination of sounds Came from somewhere not found in any earthbound soul pointing to the possibility that he might not be of any DNA found on Earth Older musicians were stunned to learn he was only 10 years old he said his name was Joey, was born in Indonesia and taught himself to play at age six He taught himself to play listening to records of Louie Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wynton Marsalis and Billy Strayhorn; powerful jazz musicians to grace the jazz landscape He emerged as a child oddity but quickly became a respected artist a one of a kind, one of life’s wonderful mysteries, pegged to be an icon Reminding us of that other genius of whom it was said, "It will take a thousand years before we see another like him." From his revered perch in heaven, Mozart looks down, smiles and says, “Well, there he is, you’ve got him now. What are you going to do with him?” *** Go to youtube>jazz>JoeyAlexander, prepare to be stunned, 14 now, but directs an excellent trio; artistry and maturity will astonish