Meet the band: Alex Clarke (Saxophone/Reeds)
We caught up with our fantastic saxophonist Alex Clarke to find out more about her musical influences and what she enjoys about performing with Down for the Count.
Main photo credit: Ron Milsom
How did you get into jazz and swing music?
My school had two jazz bands: a training one and an invite-only big band (if only all schools had that!). I was already playing piano and flute. When I was 14, I went away on a residential weekend with the wind band, and the jazz band were also there – I spent the whole weekend listening to them in the room next door, thinking, “I’d much rather be doing that.” Back home, I asked my parents for a sax, and we managed to get one from a local music shop as part of a three-month trial. I’m sure my mum was convinced this would be a flash-in-the-pan thing and I’d go back to playing the flute, but that never happened! I transferred to the sax pretty quickly, teaching myself with YouTube videos, then I joined the school jazz band.
Alex Clarke performing with Down for the Count at the London Gala Ball, Porchester Hall
How did you start gigging?
I went to Saxophone Day in Sandbach (I’m originally from Cheshire), where I met Andy Scott. He started giving me lessons, and recommending records. Alongside that, I was going to local jazz nights. As I got better at playing, I started asking if I could sit in with the bands. There was a trad night in Alsager where I’d go and play a lot of New Orleans stuff – let’s just say there weren’t many young people there! I’d also go to an event in Wilmslow, more modern, straight-ahead, and the musicians also kindly let me sit in for a couple of numbers. Jazz completely eclipsed my GCSEs and A-levels. By the time I was sitting GCSEs, the bands I’d sat in with were booking me as a dep.
Do you have a favourite jazz record or performance?
My all-time favourite record is the Phil Woods Six’s Live from theShowboat. I’m a massive Phil Woods fan. Also, I know a lot of people look down on compilation albums, but I listened to a lot of them when I first started playing. My dad used to pick them up from charity shops for me and I’d have them on in the background while I was studying for my GCSEs. They’re a good way of exposing yourself to a load of music and figuring out what you do and don’t like.
Photo: Mark Butler
Who are your influences?
My first was Cannonball Adderley, and he remains a big one. I came to Phil Woods a few years after I first started playing, and he’s my number one now. In terms of people in the current scene, I’m into Grant Stewart, Eric Alexander, Harry Allen, Scott Hamilton, Vincent Herring – he’s a big influence on me now, he’s more contemporary – and all the usual suspects like Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins… It depends on what kind of mood I’m in but stylistically, I tend to stick between the 1930s and the late-’50s. That’s the era I most like to sound like I come from!
Are there any female musicians in the current scene you admire?
Nicki Parrott, a great bass player from Australia. The Canadian pianist Renee Rosnes. Musicians on the UK jazz scene like Alison Neale and Karen Sharp, both of whom I know and work with, who are massive inspirations to me as women out there doing it. Amy Roberts, who I first heard play with the Big Chris Barber Band when I was 14 or 15. She was the first person I ever reached out to – via the contact form on her website – for advice as a woman working in jazz. She invited me to one of her gigs, then to sit in with her band at Pershaw Jazz Festival. That was the first time I played to a live audience. We’re good mates now, and I’m still so grateful to her.
It’s lovely to hear about creatives helping others up the ladder…
Yes! Now that I teach, I see it as giving back – all the opportunities I had as a result of working with other people, I can pass on the favour and keep the cycle going. I realise I’ve gone from being the “young up-and-coming musician” to being the veteran passing the baton to the youth! It’s great.
Photo: Steven Foster
Best gig you’ve ever been to?
A couple of months ago, I went on the Jazz Cruise. (Turns out I get really seasick!) It’s organised by Christian McBride and Emmet Cohen, and they put all of New York’s finest on a ship for a week. The number of mindblowing gigs I saw… Dick Oatts, Bill Charlap, Christian McBride himself, I can’t even narrow it down. That was super inspiring. Over lockdown, I was a big fan of the YouTube series From Emmet’s Place, so to then get on this boat and see all these guests I’d seen on his livestream, in person, all in one place… was a proper bucket-list moment.
How did you get involved with Down for the Count?
James Owston plays bass with my quartet, so we do a lot of gigs together. He mentioned me to Mike, and it turned out Mike lives 4 minutes down the road from me. Good for car shares! The first gig I did was in Banbury and the theatre was out of action, so we played in a converted leisure centre. We had a great time!
Do you have a favourite show (or even moment) with Down for the Count?
I can’t remember which venue this was, but Mike let it slip that he played a bit of sax, so we gave him Chris Adsett’s tenor sax and got him to play Mack the Knife for the audience. It was absolute gold, and I’m here for more of that.
Favourite song to perform with Down for the Count?
You know what, when that Christmas Overture kicks off in the Swing Into Christmas show, I feel Christmas has started. I love doing gigs with string players.
What’s the best thing about performing with Down for the Count?
That Banbury gig was trumpeter Oli Arnold’s first gig too, and we each thought the other had been in the band for years! We only found this out last month. But that’s a testament to how lovely and friendly and welcoming everyone is in Down for the Count. Second to the music is the guarantee of having great people in your team. Which is absolutely essential, especially when you’re on long tours like Swing Into Christmas. I’m always up for a Travelodge hang with Down for the Count!
Photo: Chris Horne
What musical projects are you involved with outside of Down for the Count?
I run my own quartet with David Newton, Dave Green and Steve Brown, who I feel very lucky to be working with. In May, after three years of procrastination (and my national tour with the 101 Dalmatians musical), we’re finally recording an album: a homage to Phil Woods. We’ll be playing some of his lesser known tunes, plus a few of my original compositions. It’s a hard balance – you don’t want it to just be a tribute album. Ultimately, I want to sound like me. I’m also working with Emily Vasser, an up-and-coming vocalist whose dad taught me sax at one point. We’ve got a quintet and are doing some festivals – Swanage, Scarborough, Buxton… I’ve done a few shows with a pianist in Cardiff, Eddie Gripper, and I play pretty regularly with Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra. I feel really lucky to be part of that.
What are your hobbies when not performing?
I’m a massive theme park nerd – as in, I know all the makes and models and coaster tracks! It’s really tragic but I play Fortnite, like some teenage boy. It’s a nice thing to decompress to, after a gig. I play golf, badly. As a kid, I used to be really into horse riding – I’m actually a really competent horse rider, which is something not a lot of people know about me!
About the author
Polis Loizou-Denyer is Down for the Count's marketing and communications officer. Though it's a long time since he played an instrument himself, he likes to keep creative with his own writing, performing, theatre making, filmmaking and oral storytelling.
