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
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2015
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