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Alexander McCabe

Alexander McCabe is a saxophonist and composer. Originally from Boston, he has been performing in and around New York City since the 1980s. Alexander was a featured soloist with the Ray Charles Orchestra and was an original member, and toured with, the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban big band.

Alexander has played with/among others: George Coleman, Danny Aiello, Harold Mabern, Clifford Jordan, George Coleman Jr., Maurio Bauza, the Pointer Sisters and Nancie Banks. He's toured the UK and Europe, performing at the Edinburg and Cork festivals, the Pori Jazz Festival, the North Sea festival, The Vienne Music Festival and others. As a member and songwriter for the popular ska band Mephiskapheles, he performed and toured the US and Europe. He has recorded extensively with a variety of artists. He has released three CDs as a leader.

Many of his compositions are featured on film and television.

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13
Album Review

Alexander McCabe: Cuba Bella

Read "Cuba Bella" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Veteran New York-based saxophonist, pianist and composer Alexander McCabe is primarily an industry musician with extensive TV and movie credits as well as several previous recordings of his own. He presents his eight album as leader, the playful Latin-styled Cuba Bella, a vocal Spanish language project with music by McCabe and lyrics from his Cuban-born wife Maritza. Containing a rare mix of Cuban and Mexican sounds with contemporary jazz overtones, the album is a sparkling upbeat package of Latin Afro-Cuban ...

2
Radio & Podcasts

Freddie Hubbard & Alexander McCabe

Read "Freddie Hubbard & Alexander McCabe" reviewed by Joe Dimino


From a mainstay on the New York jazz scene, we begin the 702nd Episode of Neon Jazz with Alexander McCabe and a song off his 2020 album I'd Prefer. We spend the rest of this episode on music from Sean Nimmons, Audrey Foxx, Jeff Ellwood and Chance Hayden. Our final song on this hour of jazz comes from Kansas City Trumpeter E.E. Pointer off his release Quarantine Dreams. Enjoy the jazz. Playlist Alexander McCabe “New York City" I'd ...

6
Album Review

Alexander McCabe / Paul Odeh: This Is Not A Pipe

Read "This Is Not A Pipe" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


The title is, presumably, a nod to “Ceci, C'est Ne Pas Une Pipe," the phrase which Rene Magritte wrote on his famous painting La Trahison Des Images. The painting wasn't, of course, a pipe, just a painting of a pipe. This Is Not A Pipe isn't a pipe either--it isn't even a painting of a pipe. So what is it? Alto saxophonist Alexander McCabe and pianist Paul Odeh have the answer--it's a recording of eight tunes, three standards and five ...

9
Album Review

Alexander McCabe / Paul Odeh: This Is Not A Pipe

Read "This Is Not A Pipe" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Are we having fun yet? Saxophonist Alexander McCabe and pianist Paul Odeh are, on a rollicking duo outing, This Is Not A Pipe. The frequent collaborators delve into a loose-jointed, roll and tumble examination of some jazz standards and McCabe originals. The word “seamless" is an often used--some would say over-used--as a description of a recorded offering. This Is Not A Pipe is not that. It is about as Un-seamless as can be. It sounds as if two ...

94
Album Review

Alexander McCabe: Quiz

Read "Quiz" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Quiz, alto saxophonist Alexander McCabe's second album as leader, appears five years after his previous release, The Round (Wamco Music, 2005). McCabe has been a member of Ray Charles' Orchestra and ska band Mephiskapheles, as well as working with jazz greats like Joe Henderson and Ray Brown. He cites tenor giants Ben Webster, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins as influences, but it's altoists like Charlie Parker and Eric Dolphy that impact most clearly on his sound. The ...

136
Album Review

Alexander McCabe: Quiz

Read "Quiz" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Alto saxophonist/composer Alexander McCabe returns from a five-year recording hiatus with the swinging, accessible, and sometimes surprisingly adventurous Quiz.The Round (Wamco Music, 2005), McCabe's previous offering, was a superb mainstream set, with a hint of the Irish barroom on the title tune. Quiz once again displays the artist's mainstream frame of mind in a vibrant ensemble featuring pianist Uri Caine, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummers Greg Hutchinson and Rudy Royston. Where The Round had a more traditional jazz ...

82
Album Review

Alexander McCabe: The Round

Read "The Round" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes


Mostly through original tunes, The Round explores diverse music without straying too far from the jazz realm. This is evident from the first track, “Floating, where saxophonist Alexander McCabe goes into a bossa nova-esque direction (the opening notes are immediately reminiscent of Jobim's “Chovendo Na Roseira ), reminding me of how much I loved Getz's incursions into that genre. That is not all the tune has to offer, however--McCabe shows off accomplished improvisational chops, while the other musicians lend subtle ...

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Recording

Alexander McCabe - Quiz (Consolidated Artists Productions, 2010)

Alexander McCabe - Quiz (Consolidated Artists Productions, 2010)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

Alexander McCabe is a rising alto saxophonist on the jazz scene, gaining experience in the big bands of Ray Charles and Chico O'Farril before striking out on his own as a small group leader. McCabe is joined on this album by Uri Caine on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and either Rudy Royston or Greg Hutchinson on drums. The music has a nice straight ahead swinging feel, grounded in bebop and hard bop but amenable some experimenting as well. Led ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Cuba Bella

Self Produced
2023

buy

I'd Prefer

Self Produced
2020

buy

This Is Not A Pipe

Wamco Music
2014

buy

Quiz

Consolidated Artists Productions
2010

buy

The Round

Wamco Music
2005

buy

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