Monty Alexander

Jamaican jazz virtuoso Monty Alexander, performing his Grammy-nominated show Harlem-Kingston Express.

Evoking not only the combination of two cities but also the high-powered excitement the band brings to the stage, the Harlem-Kingston Express is essentially two groups in one: a jazz group and a reggae group, with Monty Alexander straddling the two on piano as the common thread that holds them together. Each plays more or less purely in its own genre, but with Alexander the common thread that holds them together. The end results work so well together that it would be pointless to determine out what’s jazz and what’s reggae.