Dee Alexander

Story and Photos by James Walker

Reviewing a performance by Chicago's premiere jazz vocalist Dee Alexander is always a pleasure. Sunday night, March 25th at the weekly Checker Jazz set at the Checkerboard Lounge in Hyde Park was no exception. Dee was in exceptional form as usual.

Dee always seems to be at ease as if she's singing at home in her living room. She is a singer's singer, and on this night, she was in a comfort zone that mesmerized the audience. Her audience is fiercely loyal, and she is a super saleswoman - never letting anyone out of the rom without closing the deal. She has a beautiful instrument: clean, firm and enviably focused. At the same time, Dee has the ability to rearrange standards without committing musical sacrilege.

On this night, Dee was joined on a stage by some of er longstanding sidemen: Miguel de la Cerna on piano, the incomparable Harrison Bankhead on bass, and Leon Joyce, Jr. on the drums. De la Cerna arranges most of Dee's music, and he had many opportunities this night to demonstrate his talents. His touch is very elegant, while at the same time he can produce rapid-fire lines with repeated licks.

Bassist Harrison Bankhead is truly one of Chicago's most prolific avant-garde musicians. he plays throughout Chicago ith the likes of Nicole Mitchell, Ari Brown, Fred Anderson, Ed Wilkerson and the late Malachi Thompson, and was recently part of the Chicago group that successfully toured Poland. Meanwhile, drummer Leon Joyce, Jr. is perhaps Chicago's busiest and most renowned drummer. Leon tours internationally with Ramsey Lewis, in addition to his many performances in Chicago.

Dee has no problem sharing the spotlight with these great sidemen. She's a true professional and knows how to highlight a perfromance without dominating. She always leaves significant time for non-vocal works.

As Dee sang an Oscar Brown, Jr. tune - to her surprise she noticed Oscar's daughter Maggie in the audience and invited her onstage to sing a few verses of "Live Every Minute" with her. What a pleasure to see these two divas scatting and singing together. It was atnedr moment. Magiie in her own right is an exceptional singer who also has the uncanny ability to "paint a picture" while singing. Each phrase is meaningful and get's one's attention without shouting.

Back to Dee. She doesn't sing at you, she sings to you. One honsetly can imagine that she's conveying a one-on-one conversation with each member of the audience. Dee always pays homage to the jazz masters from the past. In addition to acknowledging Oscar Brown, Jr., on this night she also paid tribute to the late Malachi Thompson ("Surrender Your Love"). Thelonious Monk ("Straight, No Chaser") and Sarah Vaughn. She never perdforms without giving respects to legends of the past.

With that in mind, Dee will be appearing in a very special concert this summer at Millennium Park, where she will render the music of Dinah Washington and Nina Simone. This set will take place July 19th at the City's summer Thursday night Jazz Series, and sould be a memorable event.