Jessicha Valentina for The Jakarta Post – Indonesian musician Joey Alexander is synonymous with jazz.
Born in Bali, Joey began playing the piano at the tender of age 6. His father, Denny Sila, introduced him to the instrument and helped him to hone his swing and improvisation skills by introducing him to classic jazz recordings and taking him to jam sessions in Bali and Jakarta.
Joey received international recognition after performing at the 2014 Jazz at Lincoln Center’s gala, a show that New York Times described as an “overnight sensation”.
Since then, Joey has become unstoppable. In 2016, he made history to be the first Indonesian nominated for a Grammy Award for his debut album My Favorite Things, as well as the youngest-ever Grammy nominee in the jazz category at the age of 12. Currently, Joey has received a total of three Grammy nominations.
Joey, who recently turned 15, launched his third studio album Eclipse in May. The jazz pianist talked with The Jakarta Post via email about his new album and life as a jazz musician.
Tell us more about your new album Eclipse. How does it feel to work with renowned musicians Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland and Joshua Redman? What are the things you learned from them?
The album was named after a piece called “Eclipse” we recorded on the day of the solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. It was a spontaneous thing we did for more than 10 minutes, composing and improvising at the same time.
[Rogers, Harland and Redman] are great musicians and you get what you expected from great musicians. I have toured with Rogers and Harland before recording, so we knew each other.When you play with people in order to work, there has to be learning from each other and mutual respect. They had to learn about what I wanted to accomplish with my compositions and arrangements, we learned from each other as we play. Listening is the key.
Regarding your new music video “Bali”, how long did you take to compose the song? Is “Bali” more personal to you when compared with other songs onEclipse?
Probably, around a month. The more I played it, the better I knew the song and the more I wanted to share it with the listeners.
I am grateful for the videographer, who did a great job capturing what I saw and experienced every day growing up in Bali.