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About Alex:
Music has been a part of Alex’s life for as long as he can remember, playing trumpet in school and guitar in rock bands outside of school, in Bennington, Vermont. After graduating high school, he attended Ithaca College (B.M., Music Education), and soon started working as a contracted musician at amusement parks and aboard cruise ships. He then attended and graduated from UMass-Amherst (M.M., Jazz Composition and Arranging), and served as a graduate T.A., coaching combos, leading the Jazz Laboratory Ensemble, and coordinating the UMass High School Jazz Festival. During his college education, Alex had the privilege to study classical trumpet with Dr. Kim Dunnick and Eric Berlin, improvisation with Steve Brown, and composition with Jeff Holmes. Since his time in school, he has studied improvisation regularly with Hal Crook, and participated in the 2014-15 BMI Jazz Composers Workshop under the coaching of Jim McNeely and Mike Holober.
Upon graduating UMass-Amherst in 2010, Alex moved to the Boston area to begin work as a band director at Galvin Middle School in nearby Canton. Since then, he and Brian Thomas formed the BT/ALC Big Band, playing their original compositions and arrangements, influenced by their shared love of funk, hip hop, and other groove music. They have released four studio albums, including their newest release on Ropeadope, “The Search For Peace”. Alex also leads the ALC 8tet, who recently recorded it’s first album of original music, “Live at the Lily Pad.” Recent career highlights include performances with Nigel Hall and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, as well as the BT/ALC Big Band performing with The Nth Power, featuring Alex’s arrangement of “Thank You.”
Alex is currently Professor of Trumpet at Providence College, where he also directs the Funk Ensemble. He is also co-founder and artistic director for Pop-Up Music, an organization aimed at using live music and discussion to engage workplace teams in the creative act of listening: the art of listening to yourself and others, of hearing the meaning behind the music, and of creating cohesion and understanding.
Alex’s Projects
BT/ALC Big Band
Since the group’s formation in 2011, Brian Thomas and Alex Lee-Clark have gained a reputation for featuring some of the best players in Boston, great compositions, and being undeniably unique. By taking the tradition of the big bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Thad Jones and infusing it with funk music of their idols like Parliament Funkadelic, The Crusaders, The Meters, James Brown & the JB’s, and many more, they have created a sound that pushes the art of big band forward, while still being pure entertainment for both the band and the audience. Visit BT/ALC Big Band on the web.
ALC 8tet
The 8tet is a group that plays jazz and funk, composed and improvised, and explores as much different musical space as Alex can find.
ALC Funktet
Born from the freelance musician world, the Funktet is a collection of players Alex works with and loves to play with, playing a mixture of pop tunes, funk standards, and Alex’s original tunes.
PopUp Music
Tonight, you’re with the band – sit with world-class musicians and performers and learn how music is composed, de-constructed, and put back together again in an interactive showcase that’ll feel like you’ve just been handed backstage passes to Boston’s coolest show.
With no prior experience necessary, anyone can enjoy the beauty and intricacy of live music performance if they know what to look for. With PopUp Music, you get an exclusive peek into how musicians form their craft. Connect with local Boston artists in a 45-minute exploration into the basics of music-writing and improvisation that will delight the senses and hone your own sense of musicality. Part concert, part “podcast”, and part Ted Talk, our program is designed to reach and engage with anyone and everyone willing to learn.
Educator
Alex is a dedicated educator, drawing on his skills as a composer/arranger and as a working musician to help every student and every ensemble find music that they can play and connect to. Years of experience as a full-time band director and general music teacher at Galvin Middle School (Canton, MA) taught him first hand that every person can have an experience with music that truly excites them, whether it be playing a clarinet solo in a concert band or having a dance party at the end of a study hall.
Since his time in Canton, Alex has gone on to have a diverse freelance education career. He is a frequent guest clinician at district and all-state festivals, as well as a guest lecturer at colleges throughout the northeast. He is currently on faculty at Providence College, where he teaches trumpet and directs the Jazz/Funk Ensemble.