Roland Alexander (September 25, 1935 – June 14, 2006) was an American post-bop jazz musician.

Early life

Born in Boston, Alexander grew up with his parents and sister, Gloria, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He earned a bachelor's degree in music composition from the Boston Conservatory in 1958.

Career

Alexander played tenor saxophone,

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

, and piano. He was a prolific composer and arranger who wrote and played for many of the better known bands in Boston during the 1950s, i.e. Sabby Lewis,

Preston 'Sandy' Sandiford Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

Richie Lowery Richie or Richy is a masculine given name or short form (hypocorism) of Richard. It is also a surname. First name *Richie Ashburn (1927–1997), American Major League Baseball player, member of the Hall of Fame *Richie Benaud (1930–2015), Austra ...

, Jaki Byard and many more. He co-led a group called the Boston All Stars that featured Trumpeter Joe Gordon, and after Joe Gordon left to play with

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

's band Joe was replaced by a few of the more innovative trumpet soloists in the area, like

Wajid Lateef Wajid may refer to: *Al-Wājid (Arabic: الواجد), one of the Names of God in Islam#Lists of names, names of God in Islam, meaning "''Perceiver''" or "''Unfailing''" *Wajid (name), male given name of Arabic origin (includes a list of people wit ...

(Crazy Wilbur Lucaw), and

Gordon Wooly Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordo ...

. He then moved to New York City in 1958. In addition to two solo releases, he played and recorded with John Coltrane, Howard McGhee, Max Roach,

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

, Roy Haynes, Philly Joe Jones, Blue Mitchell, Sam Rivers, Archie Shepp, and

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

Discography

As leader

* 1961: ''

Pleasure Bent ''Pleasure Bent'' is a debut album by saxophonist Roland Alexander, with trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, recorded in 1961, and released on the New Jazz label.

'' ( Prestige) with

Marcus Belgrave Marcus Batista Belgrave (June 12, 1936 – May 24, 2015) was an American jazz trumpet player from Detroit, born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He recorded with numerous musicians from the 1950s onwards. Belgrave was inducted into the class of 2017 ...

* 1978: ''Live at the Axis'' ( Kharma) with

Malachi Thompson Malachi Richard Thompson (August 21, 1949, Princeton, Kentucky — July 16, 2006), was an American avant-garde jazz trumpet player. In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Thompson was known for his work in the brass ensemble led by fellow tr ...

and Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre

As sideman

With Paul Chambers * ''

High Step ''High Step'' is a jazz double album credited to bassist Paul Chambers and saxophonist John Coltrane, issued in 1975 on Blue Note Records, catalogue BN-LA451. It is a compilation taken from the 1956 ''Chambers' Music'' on the Jazz West label and ...

'' ( Blue Note, 1956 975) With Eddie Gale * ''Black Rhythm Happening">Eddie_Gale.html" ;"title="975) With Eddie Gale">975) With Eddie Gale * ''Black Rhythm Happening'' ( Blue Note, 1969) With Abdullah Ibrahim * ''African Space Program'' (Enja Records, Enja, 1973) With Howard McGhee * ''Dusty Blue'' ( Bethlehem, 1960) With

Charlie Persip Charles Lawrence Persip (July 26, 1929 – August 23, 2020), known as Charli Persip and formerly as Charlie Persip (he changed the spelling of his name to Charli in the late 1960s), was an American jazz drummer. Biography Born in Morristown, N ...

* ''Charles Persip and the Jazz Statesmen'' (Bethlehem, 1960) With Max Roach * ''

Drums Unlimited ''Drums Unlimited'' is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1965 and 1966 and released on the Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic, 1965) With James Spaulding * ''

Songs of Courage ''Songs of Courage'' is an album by saxophonist James Spaulding which was recorded in 1991 and released on the Muse label.Muse, 1991 993

References

External links

* Roland Alexanderat AllMusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Roland 1935 births 2006 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Jazz musicians from Massachusetts Prestige Records artists 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians