Joey Alexander at SFJAZZ Center

Mentored by Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and Wynton Marsalis, Joey Alexander is the brightest light in jazz piano – a young star whose expressive range and musical maturity at age 18 confounds the stereotypical definition of a jazz prodigy. He returns with music from his fifth album and 2020 Verve Records debut, WARNA, along with his string of 2021 singles “SALT,” “Under the Sun,” and “Summer Rising” backed by a superlative trio. Since his U.S. debut in 2014 at the Jazz at Lincoln Center gala, the Bali-born pianist has rocketed to stardom via a performance on the 2016 GRAMMY awards, a feature segment on 60 Minutes, and a performance with Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding at the White House in celebration of International Jazz Day...

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Mentored by Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and Wynton Marsalis, Joey Alexander is the brightest light in jazz piano – a young star whose expressive range and musical maturity at age 18 confounds the stereotypical definition of a jazz prodigy. He returns with music from his fifth album and 2020 Verve Records debut, WARNA, along with his string of 2021 singles “SALT,” “Under the Sun,” and “Summer Rising” backed by a superlative trio. Since his U.S. debut in 2014 at the Jazz at Lincoln Center gala, the Bali-born pianist has rocketed to stardom via a performance on the 2016 GRAMMY awards, a feature segment on 60 Minutes, and a performance with Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding at the White House in celebration of International Jazz Day. His 2015 debut release on the Motéma label, My Favorite Things, received two GRAMMY nominations, making Alexander the youngest artist ever nominated for a GRAMMY in the jazz category. Bearing a title that translates as “color” in Alexander’s native Bahasa language, WARNA marks the emergence of the pianist as a mature and thoughtful composer who wrote 10 of the session’s 12 compositions, and signifies Alexander’s transcendence of any lingering youth-tied to emerge as a seasoned veteran and creative force whose musical life is only just beginning.

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