Pianis Muda Indonesia Kembali Masuk Nominasi Grammy Award

Indonesian Child Prodigy Again Up for Grammy

Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi


Pianis Muda Indonesia Kembali Masuk Nominasi Grammy Award
Lahir di Bali, Joey belajar piano sejak usia dini setelah terinspirasi dari koleksi musik jazz milik orangtuanya (Foto: MailOnline)

REMAJA berbakat Indonesia Joey Alexander, yang membuat banyak orang terpesona pada keterampilannya memainkan tuts-tuts piano meski berusia muda, kembali dinominasikan meraih Grammy Award pada Selasa untuk kategori Improvisasi Terbaik Jazz Tunggal (Best Improvised Jazz Solo).

Musisi muda usia 13 tahun dinominasikan pada kemampuan improvisasi lagu klasik karya John Coltrane 'Giant Step' yang hadir di album kedua Joey.

Joey muda menjadi perhatian media internasional dan penonton dunia yang kagum pada aksi remaja berkacamata yang memainkan piano dengan ketenangan dan penghayatan bagaikan sosok dewasa.

Dia juga dinominasikan untuk dua Grammy di penghargaan tahun ini, namun tidak menang. Penghargaan terbaru akan dipresentasikan pada ajang tahunan industri musik di Los Angeles pada 12 Februari tahun depan.

Joey pada Grammy Award lalu bersaing dengan nama-nama besar di jagat musik jazz termasuk putra John Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane, yang dinominasikan untuk saksofon tunggal di album kolaboratif 'In Movement.'

Juga masuk nominasi dalam kategori pianis jazz terkemuka, Brad Mehldau dan Fred Hersch, dan gitaris fusion John Scofield.

Mehldau, Hersch dan Scofield juga dinominasikan untuk Grammy kategori Best Jazz Instrumental Album, bersaing dengan pianis terkemuka lainnya yakni Kenny Barron, dan drummer Peter Erskine.

Lahir di Bali, Joey belajar piano sejak usia dini setelah terinspirasi dari koleksi musik jazz milik orangtuanya.

Dengan kesempatan terbatas untuk pelatihan jazz formal di Indonesia, dia kerap bergabung dengan musisi dewasa sebelum orang tuanya mengajaknya hengkang ke New York.

Sebuah profil dirinya di berita televisi terkemuka AS "60 Minutes" mendukung promosi album terakhirnya ke chart Billboard mingguan dari 200 album terlaris AS - yang pertama bagi seorang seniman Indonesia seperti dilansir MailOnline.

INDONESIAN child prodigy Joey Alexander, who has awed crowds with a piano skill beyond his years, was again nominated for a Grammy Award on Tuesday for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

The 13-year-old was nominated for his take on "Countdown" off John Coltrane's classic work "Giant Steps," which appears on Joey's second album.

Joey has pulled in growing media attention and audiences drawn to the sight of the bespectacled boy who plays the piano with precocious poise and feeling.

He was also nominated for two Grammys at this year's awards but did not win. The latest awards will be presented at the music industry's annual gala in Los Angeles on February 12.

Joey is up this year against some of the biggest names in jazz -- including Coltrane's son Ravi Coltrane, who is nominated for a saxophone solo on the collaborative album "In Movement."

Also nominated in the category are two leading jazz pianists, Brad Mehldau and Fred Hersch, and fusion guitarist John Scofield.

Mehldau, Hersch and Scofield are all also nominated for Grammys for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, competing against works led by another leading pianist, Kenny Barron, and drummer Peter Erskine.

Born in Bali, Joey took up the piano from an early age as he found inspiration from his parents' collection of jazz records.

With limited opportunities for formal jazz training in Indonesia, he jammed with adult musicians before his parents eventually moved him to New York.

A profile of him on the popular US television news show "60 Minutes" helped bring his last album onto the weekly Billboard chart of the 200 top-selling US albums -- a first for an Indonesian artist.