Monty Alexander

Legendary pianist Monty Alexander bridges American jazz and Jamaican music, bringing his group to SFJAZZ to celebrate a storied career, and his numerous acclaimed recordings. 

Ranking in the top five in Gene Rizzo’s exhaustive book The Fifty Greatest Piano Players of All Time, Alexander began his piano journey at four and quickly absorbed the folk music of the Caribbean that surrounded him. Pivotal experiences at concerts by the likes of Eddie Heywood, Nat “King” Cole, and Louis Armstrong during their swings through Kingston and the supreme influences of Errol Garner and Oscar Peterson put Alexander on his path to jazz. By the early 60s he was firmly established in New York, working with artists ranging from Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett to Milt Jackson and Ray Brown. Since then, he has recorded over 40 albums as a leader, each bearing the marks of his Caribbean roots. In 2022, Alexander received the Order of Jamaica for "Sterling Contributions to the Promotions of Jamaican Music and the Jazz Genre Interpretations Globally" by the Jamaican government.

Alexander’s latest release, 2024’s D-Day, is a shimmering collection of timeless compositions named for his birthday — June 6, 1944 — a historic day that saw the pivotal Allied invasion of France in WWII that turned the tide of the war on the Western Front.