Rochester Jazz Festival 2016: Alexander Hawkins
For:
Showcase Performance at Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival 2016
Alexander Hawkins is a pianist, organist, and composer, recently labelled as ‘one of the most unique voices in contemporary music,’ whose work has reached a ‘dazzling new apex’ (Downbeat, US). He is in constant demand both as a bandleader and as a collaborator with a variety of contemporary leaders, including the likes of Louis Moholo-Moholo and Evan Parker.
His highly individual sound-world seeks to reconcile both his love of free improvisation on the one hand, and his fascination with composition and structure on the other. His piano trio, deliberately traditional in instrumentation, whilst anything but in realization, is one vehicle for these explorations. Kyle Ackermann recently wrote in All About Jazz that ‘Hawkins is a unique presence in music; not bound by conventional thinking or the typical forces that guide trio playing. He looks through the music to a place that is, frankly, unfathomable to many musicians and listeners’.
Whilst a recognized presence on the European jazz scene, PRSF funding is now enabling this trio to travel to the United States – a country whose traditions are deeply influential for the trio – for the very first time, for a pair of showcase performances.