The Kinetic Brilliance of Joey Alexander in Chatswood
Monday night at The Concourse in Chatswood usually draws a predictable demographic. Seasoned jazz enthusiasts settle into the plush seats expecting a polite evening of standard repertoire. Yet this past Monday the room looked different. Young musicians rubbed shoulders with the veteran crowd, shifting the typical older atmosphere into something distinctly more anticipatory. The draw was the Joey Alexander Trio, but the evening offered a revelation before the headliner even touched the keys.
The local Sydney quartet Zodiac proved to be a fantastic surprise. Taking the stage with unassuming grace, they launched into an upbeat cracker of a jazz tune that set a vibrant tone right out of the gate. Zodiac is an ensemble of serious talent, featuring Jordan Chung on piano, Hinano Fujisaki on saxophone, Sabine Tapia on double bass, and Manson Luk on drums. Their original compositions were consistently excellent. They built their pieces steadily, cresting into lively crescendos that demanded attention. We were seated near the back of the venue, which can sometimes mute the experience of live music. The Concourse engineers do a remarkable job, however, and the sound quality was pristine enough to ensure every seat caught the intricate interplay of the quartet.
Following a break that stretched perhaps a fraction too long, the main act emerged. The trio walked out with a slow, deliberate pace. They took their time getting comfortable at their instruments before Joey Alexander kicked off the set. The opening moments lacked the immediate energy Zodiac had just left in the room, but that restraint was an illusion. What began quietly rapidly morphed into an intensely lively and borderline chaotic performance.
For those unfamiliar with his origins, Joey Alexander is a jazz phenomenon born in Bali, Indonesia, who found global fame as a child prodigy.
By the middle of the first number, Alexander began to unveil his staggering talent. The entire crowd sat mesmerized by his command of the piano. I have attended countless jazz gigs, and he is quite simply the best jazz pianist I have ever seen. His finger speed is incomprehensible. He attacks the ivory with a high tempo precision that never sacrifices musicality for mere flash. After one particularly blistering solo, a spontaneous and highly audible "WHOA" erupted from someone in the darkness of the auditorium. It perfectly captured what the rest of us were thinking.
The rhythm section deserves immense credit. Double bassist Alon Near and drummer Tyson Jackson were no slouchers. They are phenomenal musicians who anchored the brilliance of the piano and complemented Alexander perfectly. But the night belonged entirely to the keys. The intensity of the music was deeply infectious, and you could physically feel the energy shifting the room. While the trio occasionally pulled back into slower, more contemplative tempos, the set was largely a high-paced exhibition of Alexander’s jaw-dropping ability.
As the final notes rang out, the room erupted into a standing ovation. I have frequented this venue for years and have never witnessed that level of unanimous physical reaction from a Chatswood crowd. It was also the first time I found myself leaping to my feet for a performance. The trio returned for an encore that sounded remarkably like a complex, jazzed-up rendition of "I Still Call Australia Home." While it was likely a different composition entirely, the local resonance felt fitting.
Walking out into the night, the crowd was buzzing in a state of collective shock. We had all just witnessed a generational talent, and the echoes of that piano will be ringing in our ears for a long time.
