Alexander Bone is a British saxophonist, record producer and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. In March 2014, he won the inaugural BBC Young Musician - Jazz Award, where he performed with the

Gwilym Simcock Gwilym Simcock (born 24 February 1981) is a Welsh pianist and composer working in both jazz and classical music, often blurring any distinction between the two musical forms. Simcock was chosen as one of the 1000 Most Influential People in Lo ...

Trio. He has performed as a soloist twice on the BBC Proms, including the Last Night of the Proms. He has worked closely with various artists as a performer, producer and arranger, including

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

, Rudimental, Liane Carroll,

Newton Faulkner Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. He is known for his percussive style of guitar playing. In 2007 Faulkner's debut studio album ''Hand Built by Robots'' was ce ...

MIKA Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

and

David Newton David Newton may refer to: * David Newton (artist) (1953–2011), American artist * David Newton (pianist) (born 1958), Scottish jazz pianist and composer * David Newton (guitarist), with the British band The Mighty Lemon Drops * David George New ...

Early life

Bone began playing piano at the age of two and saxophone at the age of six. He was taught saxophone by his father and attained musical experience on his parents music course 'Groovin High' and through busking, notably at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. During this time, he played with established musicians including Stan Tracey and Snake Davis. At the age of eleven, he received his first diploma (DipLCM) in saxophone, making him one of the youngest people to achieve this in the UK. By the age of eighteen, he had received three more diplomas in saxophone - ALCM, LLCM and the Fellowship Diploma (FLCM). At age thirteen, he passed his grade 8 jazz piano with a distinction before he was awarded a place to attend Chetham's School of Music in Manchester. Here, he studied with Iain Dixon, Les Chisnall, Steve Berry and Richard Iles. He also began teaching himself electronic music production in his spare time. He was one of three British musicians selected to attend the

Brubeck Institute The Brubeck Institute was a special program at the University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music. It was founded in 2000 by noted Jazz pianist and Pacific alum Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) w ...

Summer Jazz Colony, which took place at the

University of the Pacific University of the Pacific may refer to: *University of the Pacific (Colombia) *University of the Pacific (Ecuador) *University of the Pacific (Peru) * University of the Pacific (United States) *University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh * University of ...

in August 2014. In September 2015, Bone moved to London to study jazz saxophone at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

in London.

Career

In March 2014, he performed in the inaugural final of the BBC Young Musician - Jazz Award competition in Cardiff to a judging panel consisting of Django Bates, Trish Clowes, Jason Yarde, and Julian Joseph. He was crowned the winner. The final was broadcast on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. At this time, he also had remixes released under his electronic music alias "Boney" on Spinnin' Records and Freemaison Records. In 2015, he remixed "100 Degrees" by

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and

Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on th ...

, released on Parlophone Records. In September 2015, he performed on the

Last Night of the Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

in Swansea with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, playing his own arrangements of "Ain't Nobody" and "Pure Imagination", orchestrated by Simon Hale. This was broadcast live on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. In 2016, he was won the 'Rising Star' award in the

British Jazz Awards British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

by public vote. In 2018 he performed for the second time at the BBC Proms as part of the BBC Young Musician Prom at the Royal Albert Hall. Other soloists included Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti. Alexander regularly performs with his own bands at venues and festivals across the UK and Europe including London Jazz Festival,

Ronnie Scott's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sco ...

, Manchester Jazz Festival and London Saxophone Festival. In 2018, the ‘Alexander Bone Quartet’ toured the Czech Republic for two weeks.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bone, Alexander English jazz alto saxophonists British male saxophonists English jazz pianists English record producers Living people British electronic musicians 1996 births Remixers People from Darlington People educated at Chetham's School of Music 21st-century saxophonists British male pianists 21st-century British pianists 21st-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians