Alex Murzyn

Stroll by the Stanley band room on an early Thursday morning before school, and you might catch the fiery sounds resonating from the bell of Alex Murzyn’s tenor saxophone as he shares one of Charlie Parker’s soaring jazz riffs. Joining both Mic Gillette and Tommy Davidson, this "powerhouse trio" of awesome professional musicians gives weekly instruction to Stanley students as part of LASF’s commitment to upholding and enriching the Stanley Music Department’s standards of excellence.

Coincidentally, Alex was himself a young teen when he first discovered music. Raised in a small sugar cane town in the outskirts of Honolulu, his early exposure to music included an eclectic mix of Hawaiian music, as well as the Latin and Japanese music favored by his parents. But it wasn’t until he decided to quit baseball, after breaking the same finger 3 times, that Alex began playing music himself.

Self taught on both acoustic and electric guitar, by age 15 he had formed a band with some of his surfer -musician buddies, playing Hawaiian music and folk rock tunes along the lines of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Eventually he auditioned with a band that was experimenting with music more in the jazz genre, but was turned away. "I was completely blown away by these guys. I just couldn’t play as well as them and as a result, I gave up my aspirations to be a lead guitar player," recalls Alex.

Jazz Awakening

At about this time, Alex discovered jazz music while devouring "Downbeat" magazine and checking out jazz records at the local military library. Listening to Ian Anderson play flute on a Jethro Tull album stirred a new curiosity. Although he’d never learned to read music, Alex got himself a flute and began playing by listening to the jazz masters and emulating their sound. Declining a spot in the high school band because he couldn’t follow a score, Alex nonetheless continued his own course of music education . Treasures awaited him in the library’s album collection: Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws and, finally, Chick Corea’s "Light as a Feather." Upon hearing Joe Farrell on tenor sax, he knew he’d somehow come home. "It was the first time I’d heard tenor sax, and the sound knocked me out. The minute I heard it, that was it. I knew what I wanted to do."

Inspired by the artistry of this musician on both the flute and tenor sax , Alex convinced his father to buy him a tenor sax, which Alex would cart up to the hills and "squawk away," experimenting with tone, technique and composition. "It was a very natural, very powerful feeling to be blowing on a tenor. I had kind of a ying/yang thing going, playing both ends of the spectrum--the higher more ethereal notes on the flute, and the deeper, throaty sounds from the tenor."

After graduating from high school in 1974, Alex majored in music at a junior college outside Honolulu, where he began reading music and digging into music theory. There he met other jazz enthusiasts, including Fred Schreuders and Benny Rietveld who now play with Traffic and Santana, respectively. Playing with these more advanced musicians began to awaken Alex’s performance ambitions.

At the same time, a huge explosion of jazz music had come to the Hawaiian islands, fueled by increased hotel development and heightened tourist demand for entertainment. Opportunity flourished as the hotels featured Vegas-style shows, attracting some of the big name players from Los Angles, such as Ollie Mitchell, a top-call trumpeter, who ran the student rehearsal band Alex played in. Outside of show time, the players would get together and form smaller combos to write tunes, exchange ideas and refine their craft. Alex’s improvisational creativity and technical dexterity on both flute and tenor earned him professional praise, and the chance to sub up to the "A team." "This was a very exciting time, an amazing experience, being amongst some of the top players in L.A. and certainly the best young players in Hawaii. I wanted to be one of them."

Berklee Beckons

In 1976 Alex left the idyllic island of Hawaii and headed for the bustle of Boston. "It was kind of a shock," he recalls--the pace, the intensity, rigidity of lifestyle, and the realization of how far he had to go to make it to those top combos. Eventually Alex began to find his own rhythm amidst the dynamic pool of talent at Berklee, sometimes practicing 8 hours a day, even skipping an occasional class to keep playing. He credits teacher Andy McGee as being a huge influence on his motivation, sound and style. There he also met Eric Marienthal, formerly Chick Corea’s alto sax player, and Ralph Moore, currently a tenor sax player on the Tonight Show.

But after 2 ½ straight years of study without a break, Alex became burnt out. Consumed by too much practice and depressed by Boston, he returned home in the summer of ‘79.

Professional Panache

It was meant to be a summer respite. But Alex soon found himself working in a lounge gig 5 nights a week in Honolulu, getting a lot of calls, and often sharing the limelight with Gabe Balthazar, former alto sax lead in Stan Kenton’s band. Yet after 2 years, he began to tire of the scene as the jazz explosion faded, shows shut down, and the lounge gig grew stale.

Then he met the legendary Freddie Hubbard. After playing a week-long nightclub gig in Honolulu with Freddie, Alex was inspired to move to N.Y. and "swim with the big fish." To realize his dream, he accepted a a more lucrative offer, spending the next 2 years playing aboard a cruise ship, where he met his future wife, as well as a number of musicians who convinced him to move to San Francisco instead.

Once in the Bay Area, he began playing in a band with his old college friend, Benny Rietveld, who had established himself as the best bass player in the area. "This was the ‘Big Chill’ Era," recounts Alex, "and there was a lot of work in R & B." Known for his depth of repertoire (thanks to the cruise ship job ), and a penchant for punching out a hard driving sound, Alex was sought out throughout the 80's and 90's by the likes of Pete Escovido, Huey Lewis and the News, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and Arturo Sandoval, as well as a number of Latin groups.

Recording Artist

In the early 90's Kamei Records, a local record label, signed him on, grooming him to become a smooth jazz artist. His second CD, "Cross Currents," sold well, hitting # 17 on Billboard. Despite this success, Alex left Kamei to record with Monarch Records who allowed him more freedom of artistic expression. His CD, "For All People" was well received. Recently, he has recorded with Mark Little, pianist, Jim Nichols, guitarist, and, last year, with the Machete Ensemble, whose CD, "SF Bay" was nominated for a Grammy Award.

In the Groove

The new millennium brought renewed commitments. Giving up road gigs, he and his wife moved to Pleasant Hill to buy a house and start a family. Alex became more selective, focusing primarily on jazz. With a dual finesse on flute and tenor sax, he has become a preferred sideman and recording artist for many of the Bay Area’s finest such as Pete Escovido, Ray Obiedo, Rebecca Mauleon, and Stanley Clark. On Sunday nights, you can catch Alex’s soul jazz band, MRLS, perform at the First Crush Restaurant in San Francisco.

Other public appearances attest to Alex’s versatility as his music making has reached both the sports and political arenas. He has played the National Anthem at Warrior games, and, just recently, performed with a big band for the new Governor-elect, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

While expanding his own private and school-based teaching, last year Alex was invited by Mary Fettig and Bob Athayde to teach at the Lafayette Summer Music Workshop. And from there the connection was made which brought him to the Stanley band room.

Alex marvels at the eagerness of his young Thursday morning students, many of whom he is sure will end up being players. "They have it, you can see their hunger, their ability to put intangible elements together and make sense of them in their minds." Equally amazing is the level of involvement by parents and professionals who support music at Stanley. Not to mention the excellent coffee. "It’s hard to believe it’s really a middle school program," remarks Alex. Especially on Thursdays..