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A Westward Gaze

by Aaron Alexander & Friends

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1.
Is You Is 04:54
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2.
Like Someone In Love 04:20
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3.
Jitterbug Waltz 04:28
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4.
How Insensitive 06:51
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5.
Honeysuckle Rose 03:54
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6.
Skylark 05:54
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7.
High Time 03:16
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about

This album was recorded in 2006 in my hometown of Seattle. I wanted to go back and record a CD with some of my close colleagues and friends from before I moved to New York. We went into a nice studio and recorded some tracks and it was a great hang. I thought it was going to be amazing. Then I started to get picky and judgemental and delayed things. I used some of the duet tracks with special guest, Julian Priester, to make a new duet recording. These tracks got forgotten when I got busy with other things.

I've always wanted to get them out, and now Bandcamp is a way to release things digitally that probably will never be made into CDs, because who buys CDs anymore anyway?

The guys on this record are my close colleagues, longtime friends who I love dearly.
I started my first band with John Schott in middle school - Mercury (also with Fletcher Beasley on bass). John and I started playing Jazz together and played through high school and college until he went of to Berkeley, CA where he has made a beautiful life for himself and his familiy. Check out his music.
John Silverman and I were on swim team together when we were 8. He got me into the Jazz Band and Roosevelt HS and we played together all the time throughout HS and college, too. He left for Paris after college and lived there for 10 years. Now he's back doing work in the tech sector and has a beautiful family and still plays his ass off.
Andy Shaw and I met when he was teaching at Cornish and I was a student. He took me on as a colleague and we grew very close for a few years, playing duo at the Pink Door every week, and had a band with Linda Dowdell and Frank Clayton. He is an amazing vocalist and teacher and plays a mean bass trombone as well!
Lou Alexander is my big brother and he is an awesome violin player, and has a band he's been with for something like 20 years, The Haggis Brothers. He is my BFF and it was great to make music with him.
Greg Wall was my closest colleague for years in New York and we played in duets, his bands, Hasidic New Wave, Later Prophets, Klezmerfest, The Ayn Sof Orchestra and many others. He came in and laid down some horn parts at Dave Richards Studio after the main sesion. He always sounds great.
Arnold Hammerschlag and I go back to when he was in high school in Seattle and I was in colleage. He's a wonderful trumpet player and friend. We had a band in Seattle called Timebone (with J. Granelli & Briggan Krauss), and he is godfather to my kids.
Julian Priester was an important teacher of mine and I asked him to come in and guest on a couple tunes. He was so gracious and kind, and plays so beautifully. A true jazz legend.

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released March 4, 2023

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Aaron Alexander New York, New York

Aaron Alexander is a drummer and composer based in NYC. Originally from Seattle he moved to NYC in 1993 and makes his living playing, writing, teaching and presenting music. He has released original music as a leader and appeared on dozens of recordings as a sideman and member of collective groups. He is also founding director of the NY Klezmer Series. www.aaronalexander.com ... more

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