ERIC ALEXANDER QUARTET
Saturday, February 16, 2008 - 8:00 PM

Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center
3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
(Map and Directions)

Tickets: 877.311.SHOW (Toll-free) or purchase HERE 

The toughest task for any young musician aspiring to become a professional jazz musician at the highest level of the profession is to establish their own unique musical voice—especially when  they’re working within the framework of nearly a century of jazz tradition. For tenor saxophonist  Eric Alexander, that’s a task he continues to work toward with every performance and every recording—even though he’s been performing professionally for more than a decade and has an astounding 18 recordings under his name as a leader with the 2007 High Note release, Temple of Olympic Zeus, coming on the heels of the sensational It’s All in the Game. He appears on numerous others as a sideman, as well.

For Eric, who was born in Galesburg, Illinois but spent most of his childhood in Olympia, Washington, attempting to find the balance between jazz tradition and musical individuality has been a labor of love. Alexander’s musical roots go back to his first piano lessons at the age of six. He then switched to clarinet at nine and then to alto saxophone at 12, focusing on classical repertoire. It wasn’t until his freshman year at Indiana University that he settled on the tenor and committed himself to a life of jazz facilitate by a transfer to William Paterson University in New Jersey for advanced jazz studies. This was a transcendent experience as he met mentor and friend Harold Mabern with whom he collaborates to this day.

In the prestigious The Thelonious Monk Competition of 1991 Joshua Redman and Eric finished one and two. This was pivotal as both of their careers took off and began to flourish. It has gone well for young Mr Alexander. Now at 38 years of age, he is one of the hottest tenor players on the New York scene and he records prolifically. His quartet consists of players with whom he has a long history and is most comfortable and with. The pianist is the  very gifted, long-time collaborator David Hazeltine; with bassist Nat Reeves, who has played South Florida JAZZ performances in the bands of Jackie McLean and Javon Jackson; and drummer Joe Farnsworth, also a William Paterson alumnus with close ties to Harold Mabern and Pharoah Sanders. Joe is one of the most inventive and heavily recorded drummers on the New York scene.