At 13, Joey Alexander takes jazz back to the Grammys

Joey Alexander, the 13-yearold jazz pianist, broke ground after scoring two Grammy nominations last year, though he walked away from the ceremony empty-handed.

This year, he has chance to win.

He’s nominated another for best improvised jazz solo with Countdown at the Feb 12 show, airing live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Alexander says he was “thankful” for his Grammy nominations last year, but it was more special to perform on the live telecast and help bring jazz to a stage dominated by pop music.

“I’mvery happy to sharemy music, and not just my music, but the music of jazz thatmaybe people haven’t heard about,” he says.

Alexander, who is Indonesian, has performed on a number of stages along with the Grammys, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Newport Jazz Festival and the White House. Joey Alexander

performs onstage during the 58th Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles last year.

Countdown is the title track from Alexander’s sophomore album, released last year. His competition at the Grammys includes John Scofield, Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersch and

also reached No 1 on Billboard’s jazz albums chart. The new album also includes three original Alexander compositions.

“Being original isn’t really that easy and it tookmeawhile to get the music together. I’m

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