Aaron Alexander

As a drummer, Aaron Alexander displays versatility across progressive jazz, ethnic fusion, and contemporary creative idioms while working equally as a sideman and bandleader. Raised in Seattle, he first concentrated on classical violin during his formative years at Eckstein Middle School, the Nova Project, and Roosevelt High School, where Waldo King led the jazz ensemble. He began private instruction with Jerry Granelli via Cornish College of the Arts before formally enrolling there to study under Granelli, Jay Clayton, Julian Priester, James Knapp, and Randy Halberstadt.

At the 1988 Banff Centre jazz workshop Alexander met Dave Holland, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Anthony Davis, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Pat La Barbera. Additional private lessons came from Gerry Hemingway, Bob Moses, Joe Morello, Victor Lewis, and Mike Clark. While still at Cornish he appeared alongside Carla Bley, Hadley Caliman, and Marc Seales, among others. In Seattle he co-established the ensemble Timebone in 1988 and became a member of the klezmer-fusion outfit the Mazeltones the following year.

Alexander relocated to New York in 1993 after Brad Shepik and Michael Sarin facilitated his entry into the local community. He quickly integrated into the downtown circuit through the group Babkas, Klez-Jazz collaborations with Burton Greene and Perry Robinson, and the Sun Ra tribute project Myth Science; by 1996 he had joined both the Klezmatics and Hasidic New Wave, working with Greg Wall, Frank London, and Dave Fiuczynski. His résumé further encompasses performances with the Serbian Roma ensemble the Boban Markovic Orkestar as well as Natsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii, Alex Kontorovich, Elaine Hoffman Watts, Mose Allison, Charlie Byrd, Wayne Horvitz, Michael Bisio, David Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness, and the Flying Karamazov Brothers.

His first recording as a leader, the independent album Blues for Sparky, appeared in 2003, followed by Midrash Mish Mosh, released on the Tzadik label in 2004. Alexander and Julian Priester are currently planning renewed joint endeavors.