Alex Brown and I go way back — twenty years back. We met as freshmen in the jazz department at the New England Conservatory, lived together in Boston and later New York City, played countless gigs and jam sessions, and have been learning from each other ever since.

Alex is a GRAMMY Award-winning pianist and composer who’s performed with everyone from Yo-Yo Ma to Paquito D’Rivera. His playing blends jazz, classical, Latin, and contemporary influences, and The New York Times calls it “crystalline” with a “worldly approach.”

In this episode, we talk about:

• Whether jazz is even a genre anymore

• Why boundaries in music keep getting blurrier
• How skills from one instrument (or discipline) transfer to another
• The push and pull between technique and emotion
• Stories from our early days at NEC and beyond

Connect with Alex Brown:

• Website: https://www.alexbrownmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexbrownmusic
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/alexbrownmusic
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alexbrownmusic