(Reprinted from the July 2022 issue of Downbeat magazine)
At the core of Origin—Joey Alexander’s Mack Ave debut and his first all-originals album—lies a quadrangle of compositions inspired by the changing seasons. In his approach to such conceptual writing, Alexander could have crafted impressionistic program music, and a listener would be forgiven for any expectations based on the album’s song titles. But the pianist’s strong heads challenge our usual thinking about certain musical tropes: Isn’t fall also exhilarating and life-affirming? Can’t winter be active and heated? Isn’t spring kinda sad sometimes? All of these antithetical notions make their way into Alexander’s musical understanding of his subjects.
Thus the rhythmic imperative between bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Kendrik Scott on “Dear Autumn” asserts a kinetic positivity; the fleeting harmonic friction in Gilad Hekselman’s guitar on “Winter Blues” enflames; the somber acoustic vibe on “Promise of Spring” gives meditative pause; and the vibrant motion of “Summer Rising,” an electronic face-off between Hekselman and Alexander, swells voluptuously, like a rain-fed stream against its banks. (Okay, this last one actually does conjure visions of a typical summer day.)
But Alexander’s stated intent, in laying down the 10 tunes for Origin, was this: to manifest hope amid the pandemic gloom. This intent, more than any thematic concept, is what gives the album its compositional cohesion. Note that the odd-meter joy ride “Rise Up” and the reflective, piano-driven “Angel Eyes”—both wholly improvised—share a distinct lightness, despite their different feels. Or that saxophonist Chris Potter’s delicate soprano washes the pensive “On the Horizon,” one of the few ballads on the record, in a bright patina.
Alexander’s optimism is not absolute, however. On the abbreviated closing track, “Hesitation,” he moves away from the resolution of the final cadence—a joke, he explains, that underscores the uncertainty of the future.—Suzanne Lorge
Origin: Remembering, On the Horizon, Dear Autumn, Winter Blues, Promise of Spring, Summer Rising, Midnight Waves, Angel Eyes, Rise Up, Hesitation (52:42).
Personnel: Joey Alexander, piano (all tracks), Fender Rhodes (4, 6); Larry Grenadier, upright bass (all tracks); Kendrick Scott, drums (all tracks); Gilad Hekselman, electric guitar (4, 6, 9); Chris Potter, soprano saxophone (2), tenor saxophone (4, 9).