And he is thrilled to be a part of the New York City jazz scene, where so many of his idols first made those recordings he grew up hearing. He says he is grateful for all of the support and encouragement he’s received along the way. Joey Alexander’s parents gave up their travel business and eventually moved the family to New Jersey so Joey could pursue music. I play sports, like I play a little bit of tennis, swimming… like a normal kid, I watch movies." He likes pop music – Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and the Beatles. When he’s not performing, the young pianist is home-schooled. ![]() "Watching this little kid, he’s going on all these harmonic adventures, and melodic adventures, and doing some really hip stuff, and he’s just gone, he’s just completely in this next stratosphere, I’m like, that is a gift, man, and when I open my eyes and look at him, that’s what I saw, man, this kid is literally from another planet, and it’s so beautiful to watch." And I watched him, I watched him close his eyes, and I watched his head kinda just bobbin’ to the side, he has this thing that he does when he’s really going somewhere… and I was like 'This is freakin’ amazing,'" he said with a big laugh. "Every time we did "Giant Steps," Joey always loved to do an intro, without the band … And one of the second or third intros, he went to this whole other place. He recalls watching the young pianist play "Giant Steps," which could win him a Grammy in February for Best Improvised Jazz Solo. Drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr., who is 32, says despite their two-decade age difference, he and Joey connected musically from the start. One of the musicians who plays on Joey's debut album had a similar reaction. "Joey plays a version of "Round Midnight," and everybody’s jaws dropped, like looking at Joey and looking at each other… and they’re laughing, like 'This can’t possibly be what we’re hearing.' He took another take afterwards, it was a completely different arrangement… You kind of shrug your shoulders, look at each other, scratch your head, and just go 'okay, allright, I’ve never seen this before.'" JALC Director of Programming, record producer Jason Olaine, remembers the reaction of musicians who were there for a rehearsal when Joey performed a Thelonius Monk tune. When he was 10, he was invited to New York City, to play at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Sila's moved to Jakarta, so Joey could play with some of Indonesia’s best jazz artists. "Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, Coltrane and Bill Evans. He learned to play jazz by ear when he was six, by listening to musicians in his father's record collection. "I saw him play and then he make me like, I want to play, I want to try this instrument," Joey explained. It features an original composition called “City Lights,” inspired by his new life in Manhattan.Josiah Alexander Sila was born in Bali, Indonesia, where his parents ran a travel business, and his father played a little piano and guitar. “I just wanted to play music-make people happy.” His second album, Countdown, was released in September. ![]() “I never dreamed of being a jazz musician,” he said. ![]() He has performed at the White House and the Newport Jazz Festival. Joey now tours the world with his own band. By age 11, he had moved to the city with his parents and released his first album, My Favorite Things, which this year reached No. 59 on the Billboard 200 chart. ![]() Joey’s rendition of Miles Davis’ “Round Midnight” brought the crowd to its feet. In 2014, a YouTube clip of one of Joey’s performances caught the eye of Wynton Marsalis, who reached out via Facebook to invite the 10-year-old prodigy to Manhattan to perform during Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual gala. Within two years, he had not only mastered the instrument but was also jamming with local musicians in Jakarta, taking the John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk standards on his father’s jazz records and adding his own flair. He was 6 years old when his parents handed him an electronic keyboard. “I believe it’s a gift from God.” Indeed, there is something supernatural about the young pianist’s talent and his rise to fame.
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