RICKY ALEXANDER

JUST FOUND JOY

Turtle Bay Records

Rickey Alexander, soprano saxophone/clarinet/vocals; Kevin Dorn, drums; Rob Adkins, bass; Brennen Ernst, guitar; Jon Thomas & Dalton Ridenhour, piano; Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpet/cornet; SPECIAL GUEST: Vanisha Gould, vocals.

This album turns back the hands of time.  With the exception of a solitary Alexander original composition (Promenade), the songs on this album were all released between 1901 and 1943.  This is ragtime jazz; joyful and historic.

Clarinetist, saxophonist and singer, Ricky Alexander fell in love with this old-school music as a child.  It could have started when his elementary school teacher, Mr. Henderson, encouraged him to “play around the melodies” of tunes like “Tiger Rag” and “Avalon.”  At that moment, young Ricky was introduced to improvisation.  His grandma was quite a jazz fan.  She introduced Ricky Alexander to the music of Duke Ellington and bought him his first clarinet.  From that moment on, Alexander’s musical direction has focused on ragtime, swing music, and stomps.

His band opens with “People Will Say We’re in Love” by Rodgers & Hammerstein, from the musical “Oklahoma!”  His clarinet introduces the melody and sets the tone of those early 1900-times.  Jon-Erik Kellso jumps in to give a spirited solo on cornet.  Alexander and Kellso trade fours with Kevin Dorn on drums.  Vanisha Gould harmonizes vocally with Alexander on the tune “Sweet Lorraine.”  They blend nicely together during this duet.  For this arrangement, Alexander brings his soprano saxophone to the party.

Next comes Jelly Roll Morton’s “King Porter Stomp” tune.  This is a song that was popularized by both big bands and small ensembles like this one. It’s a toe-tappin’, finger-snappin’ arrangement.

You will soak up a taste of music that ruled in the 1920s and 30s, enjoying the subtle tricks of the trade like Kellso’s plunger-muted cornet leading the way on the Cole Porter tune “Just One of Those Things.”  Alexander is a multi-talented reedman who has mastered both the clarinet and saxophone.  The tunes they chose are familiar, but produced in their original and historic way to celebrate that era.  You will hear “Mack the Knife” and “Just One of Those Things” strutting off your compact disc machine with gusto. Alexander and Kellso seem to be having a ball playing together.  This music is happy, with a capital H.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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