Dee Alexander is one of the most prominent songwriters and vocalists in American music today. She has won praises for her impeccable intonation, interpretive brilliance and her daring improvising skills. Alexander’s performances include almost every genre of African music: blues, blues, neosoul, rhythm and blues, world music, and gospel. Jazz is her true passion, as it encompasses all of her influences. From a soulful ballad to a modern funk groove to a swinging swing tune to a romping scat solo Ms. Alexander sings every note with passion and grace that leaves her listeners aching. One Chicago critic commented that she wished all singers could sing every note as Dee does. Her album Wild Is The Wind was awarded a five-star review by Downbeat magazine and was named by Examiner.com as one of the Top Three Albums of 2009. She has also led her own bands, including the Evolution Ensemble. Ms. Alexander was also a key contributor to many of the most important projects and groups that have emerged in Chicago over the past two decades. These include tributes to Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and large-scale compositions by fellow members of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). Her talents have been used by major Chicago musicians such as Ernest Dawkins, Douglas Ewart, Nicole Mitchell, and Douglas Ewart. She has performed on stages alongside such legends as Ahmad Jamal and David Sanborn, Roy Ayers and Joshua Redman. Other television performances include Proclamation of Hope (WTTW TV), a tribute by Abraham Lincoln, and comedian Bernie Mac’s HBO special Midnight Mac. Portraits in Color is also shown (WBBM TV); and Going Home Gospel with Patti LaBelle (WTTW TV). Ms. Alexander has also performed at series and festivals in Paris, Tel Aviv (Poland), Milan, Perugia and Orvieto, Italy, as well as Brazil, Switzerland, Finland and Germany. She has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Chicago Jazz Festival (in many bands), Sweet Rhythm in New York City, and the Blue Room in Kansas City, MO. In Chicago’s Millennium Park, she was a major success in Orbert Davis’s 2008 presentation Hope In Action, a multimedia tribute to Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday. Chicago Tribune named Ms. Alexander “Chicagoan” in jazz in 2007. She was also honored as “Jazz Entertainer” by the Chicago Music Awards in 2008. Chicago Magazine named her the best singer of the city in 2009. She also received the Alyo Award from Muntu Dance Theater Chicago for outstanding service to the arts that year. The NAACP honored her for her exceptional achievements in the arts in 2011. She was awarded the Jesse White Illinois Secretary for States’ African American Heritage Award in February 2012 for her contributions to the arts. Further underscoring her versatility and restless imagination, Dee Alexander will present a tribute to the music of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago in December 2012. from http://www.deealexander.net
