Doing a pinch of everything in Western Mass this month

Happy upcoming Cinco de Mayo! Here's what I've got coming up:

First, I have to mention the incredible gig I had with the Brian Thomas/Alex Lee-Clark Big Band at Ryles on April 16th. Definitely the best one to date, and featuring some amazing players who brought new life to a lot of tunes. While you can hear "Superhero Dance Party" and "Jan Jan/Nuthin' But A G Thang" in the recordings section, I highly recommend checking out the rest of the show as well, available for free streaming and download here.

If you like what you hear from Superhero Dance Party, check out the shop, as that's the newest addition to the charts I have available for sale. Gettin' Caught, a modal tune for middle school/high school jazz band, is still available for free download when you sign up for my newsletter, which you can do above on this page. Make sure you sign up so you'll be able to know all the latest from the Brian Thomas/Alex Lee-Clark Big Band, the ALC 8tet and Funktet, Chocolate Peach, and more.

Also, this and next Saturday, 5/4 and 5/11, I'm honored to be reprising my position as a judge at Berkshire Idol, along with my good friends and incredible songwriters Bernice Lewis and Larry Stevens. This is my fourth year as a judge, and I'm always amazed at the talent across all the age groups, as well as how much fun the whole event is. Come hang out with us at the Barrington Stage Company! For information, check out http://www.iberkshires.com/berkshireidol/index.php.

The night before the big Berkshire Idol finale, I'll be hitting with Chocolate Peach in Northampton at Bishop's Lounge, which is hands down, my favorite music venue. If you've never been, it's worth a trip to be so up close and personal to the band, along with an incredible atmosphere and the funkiest band around. As always, we'll be dressed to funkify, hope you do the same!

Finally, I'll be going totally out of the norm and playing in the orchestra for the Hampshire Choral Society on Sunday, May 19th at 3 pm at the Fine Arts Center at UMass Amherst. HCS is celebrating their 60th year, and we'll be performing an all Beethoven concert. Repetoire includes the "Consecration of the House" Overture, Incidental Music from "Ruins of Athens," and Mass in C. Allan Taylor, the HCS's conductor is one of my favorite people to work with, and an incredible musical mind. Hope if you're in the area you'll join us!

That's it for now, but stay tuned, as lots more shows are in the works!

Alex

Happy Almost-Spring!

Hello everyone, and happy almost spring! I have lots of news for this month. First, I had an awesome first gig in the Boston area with the ALC 8tet. Big thanks to the players, and huge thanks to Ryles for having us. I haven't felt that free to play lots of different music in a long time!

Next, my piece "Gettin' Caught" was recently premiered by the RI Junior High All-State, and they were awesome! I'll have a recording and video up soon, but in the meantime, please feel free to download this zip folder with all the pdfs, for free! 

My first request is that if you like the piece, please share it, and please share it by directing your band director friends and colleagues to the website. My final request is that if you decide to program the work, please let me know, if I'm available and it's a drivable distance, I'd love to be there to hear it!

You can also download "Gettin' Caught" at my new web store, on this website! The rest of the tunes in the store are for sale, and are geared more towards advanced high school and college ensembles, but be on the look out for many more new compositions and arrangements.

Finally, be sure to check out some new dates on the calendar. To highlight a few, we have another BT/ALC Big Band hit on Tuesday, April16th at Ryles with special guests Sam Gilman on the organ and Jack Deboe on drums! Also, upcoming gigs with Chocolate Peach on April 20th (Max Capacity in Springfield) and May 10th (Bishop's Lounge in Northampton), and the first ALC Funktet gig ever on June 28th (Bishop's Lounge in Northampton). More to come soon, but until then, all the best!

Music for March!

Hey everyone! Wanted to update you all on some upcoming shows.

First, Friday 3/8, Chocolate Peach will be gettin’ down at Bishop’s Lounge in Northampton, MA, playing your favorite P-Funk, EWF, and Badu!

I also have two gigs playing with ALC 4tet (March 14th at Schwemm’s Cafe at Amherst College) and the ALC 8tet (March 23rd at Ryles Jazz Cafe in Cambridge). REALLY excited to be writing some new music for this instrumentation, and playing with some old pals and mentors as well as some new friends. The 8tet played at Sierra Grill in Northampton recently, here’s a clip:

Finally, I’m really excited to have my piece, “Gettin’ Caught,” premiered by the Rhode Island Junior High All-State Jazz Band! Once again, I’ll be putting up a link to download pdfs of the piece for free for anyone who wants it, so please tell your band director pals!

All the best folks,

Alex