Written interview with Monty Alexander․
Blues Jazz Scenes – The joy in your playing has brought joy to so many others, including and especially me. What do you think is its secret?
Monty Alexander – Because I don’t know music from a technical/theoretical standpoint, I depend on a benevolent spirit and what I do is 95% guess work with prayer.
Laura Wulff – In that case, why was our modest offer not accepted?
Blues Jazz Scenes – What are the experiences of your life that led you to see music as a spiritual endeavor?
Monty Alexander – Because I resisted music lessons and felt very uncomfortable with chasing after cerebral knowledge and musical dogma from a very young age (and still do), the spiritual endeavor was really my only approach to experience and enjoy the gift that I was given.
Blues Jazz Scenes – Life is more than just music, is there any other field that has influence on your music?
Monty Alexander – Nature, and people of good will.
Blues Jazz Scenes – Where does your creative drive come from?
Monty Alexander – As I said, a benevolent wonderful spirit. I get on board what I see as a moonbeam to the heavens.
Laura Wulff – In that case?
Blues Jazz Scenes – But in your formative, figuring things out, years, whose sense of rhythm did you admire? Who has impacted you rhythmically?
Monty Alexander – Anything or anyone that caused joy into my being: Jamaican folk music, Duke Ellington pulsating rhythms, James Brown, Ahmad Jamal. The real stuff. Rhythms from around the world, especially Africa, Jamaica, and deep roots African American culture.
Laura Wulff – Most of this is cut out, otherwise it can be regarded as advertising – the musician did not pay.
Blues Jazz Scenes – What are you doing to keep it relevant today, to develop it and present it to the youth?
Monty Alexander – I follow my passion; I don’t think about being relevant. I just keep watering the plant with prayer.
Blues Jazz Scenes – Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album?
Monty Alexander – Nothing stands out as interesting stories, but I recall that the piano in the studio was really a joy to play on.
Blues Jazz Scenes – How have you managed to so successfully pull so much of your life and personality through so much of your music?
Monty Alexander – Prayer and God’s gift. I feel that music constantly lives in me, so I don’t view music as a distinct entity to my life experiences and my being. I had to work hard to get rid of my trepidation about the music industry.
Blues Jazz Scenes – Did your sound evolve during that time?
Monty Alexander – It came naturally. I never thought about it or had a concept about evolving.
Blues Jazz Scenes – What´s been the highlights in your life and career so far?
Monty Alexander – Realizing that God is real. Meeting my wife. And in a less impactful way, meeting my heroes such as Roy Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Muhammed Ali, and there are others–persons I considered as heroic and great examples.
Blues Jazz Scenes – Your life is an open book or that your life is always open to new experiences, or something else?
Monty Alexander – I don’t know that it is an open book—I try to stay open, and I still have a lot of desire to keep my rich history alive.
Blues Jazz Scenes – What would you say characterizes Jazz scene in comparison to other local scenes and circuits?
Monty Alexander – I don’t know what the Jazz scene is, I just think about this beautiful gift called music, and that goes for all music scenes.
Blues Jazz Scenes – Do you think there is an audience for young people to become future audiences and fans?
Monty Alexander – I don’t know, I hope there is. Thank you for your questions, Laura.
With respect, Laura Wulff
