By Howard Campbell
KINGSTON, Dec 29 1998 (IPS)

It is never easy for an entertainer to follow in the footsteps of a famous sibling, something singer Larry Alexander knows only too well as he prepares to start his solo career at the age of 50.

The younger brother of famous jazz pianist Monty Alexander, and the former husband of a famous American singer, the Swiss based Larry was in Jamaica recently shopping his debut album, “I Am Who Sings” to prospective distributors.

“People always associate me with Monty and Phyllis, but that wasn’t really a problem to me, I know how show business works,” said Alexander.

“Phyllis” is Phyllis Hyman, the jazz/rhythm and blues singer Alexander was married to for eight years. A gifted vocalist who never made it big, Hyman committed suicide in 1995. Before her death there were indications that she was frustrated at not being able to break through in the American pop market.

Like Hyman whom he managed for 10 years and his more acclaimed sibling, Alexander has a bias to jazz which is the tone of “I Am Who Sings”, which was recently released in Switzerland on his Swiss-based Presidence label.

“I Am Who Sings” is the younger Alexander’s second album. It is the first full-length project from him since 1979’s “Reggae Rock And Roll”. Unlike that set which showcased a blend of pop and Latin sounds, Alexander’s 1998 album is a delightful jazz number aimed at both the purist and lovers of the music in contemporary form.

“I sing like how my brother plays, he takes jazz music and drops some reggae in it, take a swing tune and drop some soca in it,” said the jocular Alexander who has lived in Switzerland for the past three years. “This is what I have done with the compositions on this album.”

The lanky Alexander gets a little help from his brother on an album that has few weak moments. Staying true to his straight ahead roots he experiments with hip-hop and reggae without sounding contemporary which is “I Am Who Sings” greatest asset.

“It’s not a traditional Tony Bennett Trio, nothing like that,” Alexander related, “it’s got everything, reggae, swing, calypso…”

Indeed, “I Am Who Sings”‘ strongest moments come when Alexander flirts with other flavours. The opening cut is a cover of Marley’s “Is This Love”, a six-minute gem featuring a masterful solo by Monty that even Marley would have approved of.

The balladic “Look What You’ve Gone And Done”, the rockabilly twang of “Wanted By This Wholehearted Man” and the islandic “Jamaica Nights” (written with Marjorie Whylie) are other numbers that make “I Am Who Sings” a must-have for the music lover with an eclectic ear.

Co-produced by Alexander Yanick Ebinger of Switzerland, the album took seven months to complete and is the first project for Presidence, a label Alexander started recently. It was recorded solely in Switzerland with input from some of that country’s leading jazz players.

Larry Alexander’s urge to record again came after years of being on the road as either Hyman’s manager or his brother’s road manager. Apart from spending two years living in Jamaica in the late 1980s writing jingles, his career in music has been spent mostly behind the scenes.

Like Monty, he was entranced by the cream of Jamaica’s musicians who passed through their parents’ Kingston home in the 1950s. “All of them seemed to play the piano,” said Alexander. “There was always music in the house.”

But while Monty’s talent was rewarded with gigs alongside jazz’ top brass including Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra after the family migrated to the United States in 1961, Larry’s life took a different path.

He enlisted in the United States Air Force and fought for a year in the Vietnam War. Back in the U.S. he made his living on the road either as the man who guided Hyman’s career from lounge singer to one of international respect.

Interestingly, it was while serving in the role of Monty’s manager during a tour of Switzerland that he decided to settle in Zurich. “I met this man who owned a studio, he liked my songs, I liked the country and I decided to stay,” Larry reminisced.

While his career in the music business has been limited to the shadows, he hopes all that will change with the release of “I Am Who Sings”.

“I made this CD because it was my mother’s last wish before she died,” he said. “I prayed that it would happen but I couldn’t find the way; the only thing I want is it to be given a chance.”

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