 Eric Alexander, photo by Frank Stewart
Ira Sullivan is one the true
jazz greats of our time, master of
trumpet, flugel horn, tenor sax, alto sax, soprano sax, and flute. He
learned to play the trumpet from his father and the saxophone from his
mother. Sullivan was a vital part of the Chicago jazz scene of the
1950s and, in 1956, spent some time with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
His career encompasses the history of modern jazz. He performed with
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. His discography includes sessions
with Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Johnny Griffin, Roland Kirk, Red
Garland, and Red Rodney. A native of Chicago, Sullivan has resided in
Miami since the early 60's. An accomplished performer and educator,
Sullivan has been instrumental in the development of many young jazz
musicians careers. Pat Metheny fell under Ira's wing when he was a
student at the University of Miami.....and there have been many others.
Music, he feels, is of the spirit and says, "Everything
spiritual comes from God". He brings his music to worship services
everywhere and for years now has ended every performance with the
venerated old hymn, "Amazing Grace". "People miss it if I omit it now",
he says. While living, performing and teaching in Florida, Ira mentored
a number of musicians, He inspired Jaco Pastorious who considered
Sullivan one of the greats: "..take a tune like 'Donna Lee,' and play
it on the bass without a piano player so that you always could hear the
changes as well as the melody. It's a question of learning to reflect
the original chord in just the line. Players like Wayne Shorter, Sonny
Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Ira Sullivan can do that. I wanted to be able
to do it, too."
 Ira Sullivan © Andrea Canter
Eric Alexander started out on piano as a six-year-old, took up clarinet
at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12, and converted to tenor
when jazz became his obsession during his one year at Indiana
University, Bloomington (1986-87). At William Paterson College in New
Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Mabern, Joe
Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others. "The people I listened to in college
are still the cats that are influencing me today," says Alexander.
"Monk, Dizzy, Sonny Stitt, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Jackie
McLean, Joe Henderson--the legacy left by Bird and all the bebop
pioneers, that language and that feel, that's the bread and butter of
everything I do. George Coleman remains a big influence because of his
very hip harmonic approach, and I'm still listening all the time to
Coltrane because I feel that even in the wildest moments of his mid- to
late-Sixties solos I can find these little kernels of melodic
information and find ways to employ them in my own playing."
 Harold Mabern
Catch the Eric Alexander Quintet featuring multi-instrumentalist, Ira Sullivan with a swinging rhythm section consisting of Harold Mabern on piano, John Webber on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums from October 31st through-November 5th, at Dizzy's at Jazz at Lincoln Center. For more info see
www.jalc.org/dccc.
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Thursday, 08 January 2009
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