In early January, I caught this 60 Minutes segment titled “Little Jazz Man,” about 12-year-old Indonesian American Joey Alexander:
“We’ve never seen anyone like the young boy we’re going to introduce you to tonight. His name is Joey Alexander, he’s 12 years old and he’s becoming a musical sensation. He’s not a pop star or classical music prodigy…he’s a jazz musician, a piano player. He has been nominated for two Grammy awards this year. But it’s not just his young age that makes him remarkable, it’s where he’s from: Bali, a small Indonesian island that’s hardly famous for jazz. Since he arrived in New York 18 months ago, Joey has been captivating fans and fellow musicians alike, and after you meet him…we think you’ll understand why. … Joey began expressing himself on stages across Indonesia. Videos of him playing went viral and made it to Wynton Marsalis, who’s managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. … That concert changed Joey’s life. His parents sold what they had in Indonesia and moved the family to New York. He started playing gigs, touring the country, winning fans and learning the rhythms of a very different world.”
I’m can’t say I’m a really big fan of jazz, but this story really warmed my heart as Joey Alexander seemed to play out of pure joy and bring out joy in others who truly do appreciate jazz.
I’d have to say that my favorite jazz tune is probably Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five,” which I became aware of in the early 1990s when Nissan’s Infiniti’s car brand first launched and that song was featured prominently in the background of those commercials.
About John
I'm a Taiwanese-American and was born & raised in Western Massachusetts, went to college in upstate New York, worked in Connecticut, went to grad school in North Carolina and then moved out to the Bay Area in 1999 and have been living here ever since - love the weather and almost everything about the area (except the high cost of housing...)
