Dee Alexander is among the premier vocalists and songwriters in
American music today, and one of Chicago¹s most gifted and respected
artists.  Her performances span virtually every music genre related to the
African diaspora: gospel, blues, neo-soul, rhythm-and-blues, and world
music. But her true heart belongs to jazz, the one idiom that can encompass
all her influences. Ms. Alexander gravitated toward jazz at an early age and
names Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald among her major influences, as well
as Chicago saxophonist Henry Huff, who encouraged her to take risks and
cross boundaries, setting her on the path to becoming one of the most
accomplished voice improvisers in the world today. Her 2007 ³Sirens of Song²
tribute to Nina Simone and Dinah Washington (commissioned by the Jazz
Institute of Chicago), at Chicago¹s Pritzker Pavilion, introduced her to a
larger audience and helped her garner world recognition as well, resulting
in frequent tours of France, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and
Poland.  Ms. Alexander boasts long and fruitful associations with Chicago¹s
jazz elite (including Ramsey Lewis, Orbert Davis, and Nicole Mitchell), and
leads two of her own bands: the Dee Alexander Quartet and the Evolution
Ensemble, which emphasizes her original compositions. Her accolades include
³Chicagoan of the Year² (Chicago Tribune, 2008) and ³Jazz Entertainer of the
Year² (Chicago Music Awards), and her 2009 album Wild Is The Wind received
five stars (highest honor) from Downbeat Magazine, which named it among the
Top Ten recordings of the new millennium. Ms. Alexander is also a member of
the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), Chicago¹s
internationally known musicians¹ collective, and has performed frequently in
major AACM productions, as well as in other large-scale works on Chicago
stages and television; recent projects re-interpreting the music of rock and
soul legends James Brown and Jimi Hendrix.  For more information, visit the website.

Share This!

Follow me

This entry was posted on Monday, March 18th, 2013 at 8:00 pm.