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Paquito D'Rivera - Alto Sax/Clarinet
Warren Wolf - Marimba
Vivek Patel - Trumpet
Ben Williams - Bass
Eric Doob - Drums
Pedro Martinez - Percussion

Tracks:
Prologue
Warm Blooded

Lamentos
Elektric
Waltz
Buleria
Leaving
Just One of Those Things

Recent Releases - August 3, 2010
"Paquito D'Rivera Presents: Alex Brown - Pianist"

About the Album:

When a young musician with endless promise bursts on the scene, the jazz continuum is renewed and reinvigorated. And with his astonishing Paquito Records debut Paquito D'Rivera Presents Alex Brown: Pianist, the twenty-something, Maryland-born, New York-based Alex Brown takes his place as a new star in the jazz constellation. At his young age, he's a veteran sideman who has worked with Jane Bunnett, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, the New York Voices, Terell Stafford, Gary Thomas, Dave Valentin, Miguel Zenon, and Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

Presented by the great Cuban saxophonist/clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, who featured Brown as a sideman on his 2009 CD, jaZZ claZZ, Brown's incredible pianism - which combines the staccato brilliance of Chick Corea and the imaginative, percussive power of Herbie Hancock - swings front and center stage on this nine-track recording, fronting an international supporting cast consisting of D'Rivera, bassist Ben Williams, drummer Eric Doob, percussionist Pedro Martinez, marimba virtuoso Warren Wolf, and flugelhorn player Vivek Patel, on a program comprised primarily of compositions by the leader that encompass North and Latin America, straight-ahead, Afro-Cuban, Spanish, and Brazilian-tinged jazz.

The opener, "Prologue," sets things off with a brisk, marimba-motored cooker, followed by "Warm Blooded," a midtempo number Brown wrote as an exercise for a class at his alma mater, the New England Conservatory. His teacher wanted him to write something based on the melodic pattern of a rap song. In contrast, "The Wrong Jacket," is an Afro-anthemed piece where Brown lays down a mean montuno, laced by Martinez's rumba-fied, Cubano chants, and "Leaving" is a poetic blend of jazz and the danzon. Continuing the Afro- New World/Iberian vibe, "Lamentos," is an elegant piece based on the Brazilian, pre-bossa nova choro, while Brown unveils a flamenco sketch of his Spanish heart on the festive "Buleria," featuring D'Rivera's ebullient alto. "Elektric" is a dancing nod to Chick Corea's fusion band from the eighties. "Waltz" finds Brown in a pensive, brush-stroked mood, and his trio rendition of Cole Porter's classic, "Just One of Those Things" is a well-constructed, up-tempo rendition based on the leader's near-spontaneous arrangement.

"Dedication, musicality and a natural condition towards the instrument, good taste, good sense of swing, and the extraordinary capacity that Alex has for comprehending the most diverse of genres and musical styles, from the likes of Prokofiev and Ellington to Lecuona or Antonio Carlos Jobim ... [a]s a composer, and much like Duke, this valuable youngster has the keen eye to choose the best sidemen to interpret his well elaborated compositions and arrangements," D'Rivera writes on the CD liner notes

It might be tempting to think of Brown as an overnight sensation. But that is not the case. Born on April 7, 1987, he grew up in the metro Washington, DC area and, at the age of 13, he won first place in the Encore Orchestra Young Artist Competition in 2001. Alex has since performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with a full orchestra, gigged with that area's brightest talents including, Nasar Abadey, Gary Thomas, Keter Betts, and was named a Finalist in the Talent Category of The Maryland Distinguished Arts Scholar Program. In 2003, he was awarded an Honorable Mention ASCAP award for his composition, "Take the T," which was inspired by the Boston transit system, and was performed by the U.S. Army's premier Big Band, The Jazz Ambassadors. The following year, Alex was the youngest member ever accepted into New York's BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop. And his big band compositions, "Superman," and "WL Guidance Department" garnered an Outstanding Award from Down Beat and won first place at The VCU Jazz Composition Competition. He was one of ten semifinalists in The Fish-Middleton Jazz Scholarship Competition at the 2005 East Coast Jazz Festival.

In 2007, Brown joined Paquito D'Rivera's group and in 2009 recorded jaZZ claZZ. That same year Brown was cited in the Jazz Soloist [pianist] category of Downbeat Magazine's Student Music Awards and he received his second Honorable Mention from the ASCAP Foundation in their annual Young Jazz Composer Awards. He has recorded and performed with the group Imani Winds and with the clarinetist Sabine Meyer. In 2008, Brown performed Ernesto Lecuona's "Ante el Escorial" with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra as part of the Canary Islands Music Festival in Spain. And in 2009, Brown graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Danilo Perez and the late Charlie Banacos, among others. Brown's CD's as a leader include: Introducing Alex Brown (Alex Brown, 2004) and Montrose Towing (Alex Brown, 2006).

And so, with the release of Paquito D'Rivera Presents Alex Brown: Pianist, we are present at the launching pad, where a budding talent is poised to enter into orbit where the pantheon of jazz greats dwell. Ask Paquito D'Rivera. "This project is proof of what I am speaking about," D'Rivera writes in the CD liner notes. "I also know to seek and (find) where there is gold. That's why I proudly present this CD.