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Oberlin Portrait: Jimmy Alexander
Fire Fighter Plays Hot Jazz
Story by Michael
Chipman
Photos by John Seyfried
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When he's not fighting fires in East Cleveland, spending
time with his wife and two daughters, or playing drums with
jazz, r&b, reggae and rock groups around Cleveland,
junior jazz major Jimmy Alexander studies jazz percussion at
Oberlin with teacher of jazz percussion Greg
Bandy. Alexander, his wife
Lachelle, and their two daughters Mya Marie and Tarie live
in East Cleveland where he is a fireman with the East
Cleveland Fire Department.
"I started working at the fire department about seven years ago," says Alexander. "Being a fireman is a challenging job. One minute you're resting comfortably in bed. Literally five to ten minutes later you're working at your full physical capacity, surrounded by people running and yelling. You're moving equipment, you're going into a burning building: it's dark, it's hot, it's smoky, you see the fire, see what you're looking for, and then you open up your hose and put it out, and suddenly, everything's peaceful again. I enjoy going into a situation of chaos and restoring peace.
"Fire
fighting is fulfilling in a different way than music," he
says. "What I do for the fire department is more a service
for people. Music allows me such personal enjoyment and
fulfillment. The audience enjoys it too, but I really enjoy
doing it myself."
Alexander came to Oberlin last fall as a transfer student from Cleveland State University where he studied classical percussion 20 years ago. "Back then classical percussion was the only option," he says. "After Cleveland State I played professionally for several years. I worked in all types of bands - jazz, r&b, rock bands, wedding bands, top 40 groups, punk - everything.
"In the beginning I was playing full-time, but I quickly realized that I couldn't support my family just on music in Cleveland. That's when I first started working for the fire department. I worked for two years in Shaker Heights. Then I had the opportunity to go on tour with an r&b group, but the fire department didn't want me to go. Needless to say, I went on tour. I returned home after the tour and played professionally for six years. I joined the East Cleveland Fire Department in 1992."
Alexander met Wendell Logan, chair of jazz studies, and Greg Bandy, teacher of jazz percussion when the two Oberlin profs performed at a Cleveland jazz club. "I sat in with them and played a song, and the ball started rolling from there," says Alexander. "It took a while for me to get here -- three years actually -- but I love Oberlin. It's relaxing."
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What is your first memory of music?
When I was three or four years old I would play bongo drums on the basement steps of my home for my mom and dad's house parties. They played records on the record player and I would sit right in front of it and play bongos with every song.
How old were you when you started
musical training?
I took theory lessons when I was five years old, drum
lessons at six. I began playing in groups when I was about
14. I played with garage bands and pick-up bands all through
high school, then in a gospel group for two years during
college,
What inspired you to be a musician?
What keeps you inspired on discouraging days?
My parents were both musicians. My dad was a drummer. My
mom was a pianist. They played the instruments a lot at home
which was fun. It was the enjoyment of the music that
actually inspired me. My faith in God keeps me inspired. It
goes hand-in-hand with my music.
What is the most memorable
performance you have ever seen and why?
A Michael Jackson concert, believe it or not. I have a
friend from Akron who was a backup singer for Michael
Jackson's tour. I got to go backstage and see all the inner
workings of that massive production and it was simply
amazing. The musicianship was second to none. The dancing,
theatrics and everything that happened in that production
was first rate.
If you could perform with one
musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you
perform?
I would perform with Thomas A. Dorsey, who played blues
with Bessie Smith and others. He was a classic blues singer,
then he switched from secular performance to gospel
performance. He is known as the father of gospel. My life
somewhat parallels his life because I basically stopped
playing secular music in 1996. I play jazz at Oberlin, but
mostly gospel outside. I would love to play his own songs
with him.
If you could master another
instrument, what would it be?
Piano. Piano. Piano. My mom played piano and my dad
played drums. I always associated piano with the feminine
side of music and I shied away from that and now after years
and years of dodging the piano I am hindered. If I had
learned piano in conjunction with drums back, I think I
would have progressed much faster.
If you couldn't be a musician, what
profession would you choose? Which profession would you
definitely not choose?
I'd be what I am: a firefighter. I know what I wouldn't
do because I did it for years: driving wheelchair vans for
an ambulance. It's the most stressful job I've ever worked
in my life. You've got a radio in your ear and a screaming
patient in the back. Often, you get the call an hour late,
so the patient has been waiting for an hour. The people on
the radio are screaming at you to be in a certain place.
Driving in traffic with all that pressure is very stressful.
By the time you get off that job, all you want to do is find
your instrument. That's all you can do.
What do you listen to after a long
day?
Contemporary Gospel.
What do you like to read?
The Bible.
Three words that describe you:
Happy. Focused. Thankful.
