Three-time Grammy nominated jazz pianist Joey Alexander to perform at Lafayette tomorrow

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Jazz pianist Joey Alexander will be performing with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Kendrick Scott. (Photo courtesy of RUBA)

By Yumna Hussain, Contributing Writer

Tomorrow, the Williams Center will host Indonesian jazz pianist Joey Alexander, the world-renowned festival and concert hall headliner. Joining Alexander will be bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Kendrick Scott.

At the age of only 18, Alexander was nominated for a Grammy Award three times in the jazz category. He has also performed at the White House, the Newport Jazz Festival and Carnegie Hall.

Alexander’s accompanists are also accomplished in their own rights. Grenadier recently released a solo-bass exploration for ECM Records and Kendrick Scott records as a bandleader for the venerated Blue Note Label.

Hollis Ashby, artistic and executive director of the Williams Center for the Arts, stated that her objective with the William Center’s performance series is to “bring the most interesting and accomplished artists in the space to Lafayette College.”

“Lafayette College invests a lot into the performance series in order to ensure that the students’ lives are enriched with unique voices from across the world, like Joey Alexander’s,” Ashby said.

Among other compositions, Alexander will be performing songs from his major-label debut album, “WARNA,” which translates to “color” in his native language of Bahasa. The album consists of three new singles: “SALT,” “Under the Sun” and “Summer Rising.”

“Alexander’s way of perceiving the world is very distinctive, and he expresses that through his music, which he discovered at a young age. This concept of reflection and understanding has been moving through him since he was a young child, and that is what makes him so special,” Ashby said.

Tickets for the show, which will take place at 8 p.m. tomorrow, are free for students. They are available to the public for $35 and to other students and youth for $6. Tickets can be purchased on the Williams Center for the Arts website.