The story so far:

After getting into Twitter in 2009, things began to accelerate. One of the first folks I met was solo bassist & author Steve Lawson, who taught me the true nature of Twitter and Web 2.0, among a host of other things. He's an excellent musician, and I took the first opportunity I could to work with him, when a house concert tour he did with his lovely wife Lobelia, also a stellar muso, brought them through my area. I organized an event called "Waves Across the Pond" (I wrote about it in my blog here).

 

Though poorly attended, one guest was Allen Wentz, a bassist, producer, and...neighbor! Connected through a love of synthesizers, musicians and classic tunes, we struck up a sincere freindship punctuated by occasional satruday morning coffees at Two Alices Coffee Lounge in Cornwall NY. Then Allen revealed he had started working on something - something rather interesting - with some of the other musos we'd been connecting with on twitter, namely bassist Trip Wamsley & guitarist Rob Michael. In fact, Allen had been much more in touch with them than I was - and had started collecting performances from them in the form of audio files. I finally made the trip to Allen's small Cornwall NY studio, where I laid down quite a lot of keyboards tracks. The project's title is "Legoland Empire". (I'll let you see if you can work out where that comes from.)

 

I can't imagine the editing process he went through, but the end result is, in my humble opinion, truly excellent! There are 4 songs, each with it's own style & sonic language, showing great variety in style and texture. There are amazing performances by all involved (There are too many highlights to mention here; I may go tune by tune on a future post), and an audio mix & production worthy of major recogniton. The story doesn't end here, though. During this process Allen and I did 2 performances at the aforementiond 2 Alices Coffee Lounge, And we're talking doing about more....

 

 

So? Take a listen for yourself. Listen for free, or download all 4 songs from Bandcamp for a measly ONE DOLLAR. C'mon, really. :)

 

FYI, you can follow all of us on twitter:

Rob Michael:   @atmostrio

Trip Wamsley: @tripwamsleybass

Me:                  @nailmusic

Allen Wentz:    @allenwentz

 

 

 

As a part of the area's "Hudson/Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration" I was extremely thrilled to be able to present this concert at one of my fav spots, the Newburgh Free Library. We streamed the show and everything. A gentleman I recently met by the name of Paul Lockwood, who owns a local home for seniors called the New Windsor Country Inn, told me he was at the show (!) and had pictures (double!!). Here they are. :) Thanks Paul!

 

And in case you missed it, here's a video. The whole show is up there, some on Youtube and some on Vimeo...

 

Tomorrow Never Knows from Neil Alexander on Vimeo.

Neil Alexander & NAIL performing Tomorrow Never Knows as part of the "400 Year Musical Journey" Concert, Sept 13th 2009. With: Neil A. (keys), Dan Asher (Bass), Nadav Zelniker (drums), Premik Russel Tubbs (EWI) and Zach Brock (violin/loops). This video is TOO LONG for YouTube. Damn them anyway. :)

 

And here's one more:

Every so often, something interesting happens...to me. (I mean , LOTS of interersting things are happening all the time, right?) This time it seems like something extraordinary - my picture, along with the Mahavishnu Project, in JazzTImes magazine!

But, as usually happens, it's not all roses & glory. There are no NAMES listed with the picture. That this has happned to me multiple times means I've gone from excitement, to frustration, to resignation. But it's still pretty damn cool, so I'm posting a scan pf the page here. The musicians in the picture are, rom left to right:

Zach Brock (Violin); Neil Alexander (me); Gregg Bendian (drums, leader); Chad MCLoughlin (Guitar); Jim Cammack (bass).

What's even funnier (or not so funny, depending n your point of view) is that Jim is no longer with us, being replaced by Peter Brendler almost a year ago. Ah, the joy of press. :)

 

 

Here ya go:

 

Here are some fab pix taken by our friend Allen Wentz (@allenwentz on twitter - check him out, he's awesome) of some folks at the Waves event - namely Steve Lawson, Sam Hallam and myself....  Special thanks to Allen for sending over the photos.

So here we are: 2010. It's been a wacky ride, especially the last few weeks! I've been so busy with gigs now (thanks heavens!) that I can't see straight. My "Year end wrap up" post never actually materialized, but at some point I will touch on the things that started last year and are starting to flower and bear fruit this year. Things like "The Mahavishnu Project" - which is picking up steam in a subtle and most interesting way. But I digress - and I'll come back to this with pix, video, and a story to tell. Promise.

This post is about looking forward - to possibilities, and to the future of Live Music. It's about bringing music right to you, the listener. That's right, I'm taking about House Concerts. Starting this year, I will be embarking on a new path: Solo House Concerts.

Concerts in Your Home. :) 

I'm sure most (if not all) of you have heard of this delightful phenomenon. Basically what it means is that A performer, one who's music you're interested in, comes to your house and does an intimate semi-private performance for you and your friends. People can bring food (ranging from snacks to a pot-luck dinner); it can be a cover charge or suggested donation. (I have to cover costs, and these will vary by location.) The important thing is everyone gets to have a meaningful musical experience - up close and personal, both for the fans and the artist. Basically, everyone wins! Some great info about the House Concert ideology and how it works can be found Here:

Steve Lawson's Excellent Page: http://www.stevelawson.net/2009/03/house-concert-hosting-a-beginners-guide/

Gaia Consort: http://gaiaconsort.com/house.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_concert

At this time, I've yet to do a solo performance (in someone's house, that is - I've done tons of solo gigs at traditional venues), so I've no video to post at the moment. I am setting up a local performance for recording so you can see exactly what I'm offering, from setup stills and live video. But till then, here's a brief description of what I do, especially for those coming to my music for the first time: I am a jazz pianist and electronica artist. What I've done is combine these 2 styles into something unique; something that blends jazz, rock, electronics, funk and ambient music into a seamless blend. My music is both composed & improvised; I perform a combination of familiar jazz standards with a twist; gentle ambient electronica improvisations, and a variety of combinations of all the aforementioned styles. I will bring  an ever-so-small electronic setup to your house. If you have a piano (and it's a reasonably good instrument and in tune), I can use it along with the electronics - or keep it straight up acoustic if you prefer. I have my own style at the piano (somewhat along the lines of Keith Jarret and Bill Evans, with a modern classical vibe thrown in). In addition to standards and improvisations I also do select classical works - Gershwin, Bartok, Mozart etc. Stuff I'm SURE you and your friends will enjoy. :) I will have some video to post soon, of both my electronic, acoustic, and "electro-acoustic" material. Meanwhile, I have a whole bunch of stuff that you can look at to get a better idea of what I'm about, at my YOUTUBE page. I will be in the Los Angeles Area at the end of July and currently have an open date on July 23rd. Hit me up on twitter (@nailmusic) if you'd like to set something up! Also wanted to mention that my group NAIL - in either acoustic or electric form - is also available for House Concerts, although we'd need a bit more room (and a bit more money...). Here's my group NAIL performing at our first house concert in May 2009:

 

So - stay tuned for an actual House Concert Page to be posted on this site with vids, booking info, contact form, etc. Thanks for looking. I agree with the current sentiment that House Concerts are indeed the way forward. Peace!

Holy smokes! Here are some pix from my recent show with the Mahavishnu Project, one of the most fun bands I've ever been in. The lineup for this show was Greg Bendian (drums), Peter Brendler (bass), Glenn Alexander (guitar), Zach Brock (violin) and myself (Neil Alexander) on keys. We really turned up the heat and blew the room away, receiving 2 standing ovations during the course of the set. For me, it doesn't get much better than this. As an added bonus, we were opneing for "3 Friends", playing the music of Gentle Giant (with 2 original members) An excellent evening all around. :)

I have audio as well, and will post that at a later date. All pix courtesy Vincent Mineo (a.k.a. Vinnie The video Guy), who does an excellent job as archivist, capturing all kinds of great local shows (local being NY City area). We're lucky to have him in our corner. 

 

 

P.S. - if you think I've posted too many pix for the reader (that's you) to assimilate, let me know. I'll post fewer pictures next time. :)

Original link is here: