Dee Alexander

Dee Alexander had tried to put on this concert once before.

On August 23rd a storm rolled through Chicago that flooded streets, split trees, and smashed cars. There were reports of funnel clouds, and the sky was electric with lightning. Dee made it through two tunes in front of an incredibly brave crowd of about 50-100 people before the venue pulled the plug on the show. It's future was uncertain since the shows are presented rain or shine, but word came that the park wanted to do the show again, and it was rescheduled for September 11th.

Take two was a much more successful event. Clear skies on a beautiful fall night, and the one and only Ms. Dee Alexander paying tribute to two incredible musicians: Dinah Washington and Nina Simone.

There isn't a singer in the world I'd rather hear do a tribute to Dinah and Nina. I had no doubt that Dee's expressive range would easily span the careers of these two women with ease and grace, and I was not disappointed.

Joined by a band that in addition to the rhythm section included a three piece horn section, a string section, and then to top it off, Walt Whitman & The Soul Children of Chicago gospel choir came out for a show stopping finale.

When Dee sang "What A Difference A Day Makes," it worked on many levels: one day rain, the next day shine; many lives were taken, touched, and changed, and our national paradigm shifted in the 24 hours between September 10th,  2001 and the 11th. Dee announced at the top of the show that she would be celebrating the lives of those people that perished on Sept 11th, and she certainly did.

Some personal highlights included This Bitter Earth, Mississippi Goddamn, I Put A Spell On You, and Young Gifted And Black with the gospel choir. There was great playing throughout, although one standout solo came from perennially underrated local saxophonist James Perkins.

It was a great end to the series in Millennium Park this year. Every time I see Dee I'm astounded that the hasn't broke on a national level, and it's still a head scratcher for me. She has incredible talent, charisma, and presence,  and mixes innovative vocal techniques with an accessible traditional understanding of vocal jazz and blues. I still believe it's only a matter of time before she busts out nationally; in the mean time I guess we'll just keep her for ourselves here in Chicago.

Last night I headed down to the new Checkboard Lounge in Hyde Park to see the Dee Alexander quartet, featuring Ms. Alexander on all things vocal, Miguel De La Cerna on piano, Harrison Bankhead on bass and Leon Joyce Jr. on drums.

The Checkerboard is the relocated version of the club originally owned by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells many years ago. It's previous location became dilapidated and apparently a fire hazard, and was shut down. Its current owner, L.C. Thurman relocated it to Hyde Park where it re-opened in shinier, cleaner digs. It's mostly blues but on Sunday nights they present jazz, and last night they broke all their attendance records with Ms. Alexander commanding the stage.

When most people think of jazz vocalists in Chicago, Kurt Elling is probalby the first name to come to mind. If you ask people again in 10 years, I wouldn't be surprised if Dee Alexander came first.

She's incredibly talented and how she's managed to stay hidden and unknown so long is a mystery to me. Dee is comfortable in almost any musical setting, doing more straight ahead oriented singing with her quartet, performing with Douglas Ewart's Inventions, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, and in some of the late Malachi Thompson's recordings.

Utilizing her instrument in myriad ways, she has a huge range and a rich tone, improvising in a manner that mimics instruments, destroys preconceived notions of the limits of the human voice, sometimes producing rhythmic patterns that are reminiscent of afro-pea/Zap Mama vocalizations.

Her band provided great support for her excursions, including some pieces that she was working on with Light Henry Huff when he passed away, pieces that she'll be performing later this year in Chicago in a concert featuring Douglas Ewart on reeds. Huff was one of the lesser known reedists in the AACM, a one man spiritual center and shamanistic healer who practiced traditional medicine from a variety of cultures.

She'll also be featured in the Millennium Park series this summer in Chicago, doing a tribute to Nina Simone and Dinah Washington. I can't think of a singer better equipped to accomplish that daunting task.

New Yorkers will get a chance to check her out during this year's Vision Festival where she'll be appearing with Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, and maybe in a gig of her own around the city if she can find something. She's done some shows in NYC in the past with Oliver Lake, a musician she's begun to work with.

Unfortunately she only has one recording right now, a live recording from the Hothouse. Hopefully some enterprising soul sees the opportunity to document her beautiful voice so she can share it with more people soon.