Ralph Alessi

Ralph Alessi (born March 5, 1963) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and ECM recording artist. Alessi is known as a virtuosic performer whose critically-acclaimed projects include his Baida Quartet, with Jason Moran, Drew Gress, and Nasheet Waits, and This Against That, his quintet with Andy Milne, Gress, Mark Ferber, and Ravi Coltrane. Alessi has also recorded and performed with artists including Steve Coleman, Uri Caine, Fred Hersch, and Don Byron.

Alessi is known for his work as an educator, and in 2001 he founded the School for Improvisational Music in Brooklyn, New York. the University of Nevada, Reno, Siena Jazz University, and University of the Arts Bern.

Early life and career

Alessi was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His parents met as performers at the Metropolitan Opera: his mother, Maria Leone Alessi, sang in the chorus; his father, Joseph Alessi Sr., was principal trumpet for nearly 15 seasons. His brother, Joseph Alessi, is a trombonist with the New York Philharmonic. He later attended the California Institute of the Arts, studying with Charlie Haden while earning a BFA in jazz trumpet performance and MFA in jazz bass performance.

Select discography As leader Hissy Fit (1999, Love Slave) This Against That (2002, RKM) Vice & Virtue (2002, RKM) Look (2007, Between the Lines) Open Season (2009, RKM) Cognitive Dissonance (2010, CAM Jazz) Wiry Strong (2011, Clean Feed) Only Many (2013, CAM Jazz) Baida with Jason Moran, Drew Gress, Nasheet Waits (2013, ECM) David Gilmore, Ritualism (2000, Kashka, 2000) Tony Malaby, "Novela" (Clean Feed, 2011) Jason Moran, Artist in Residence (Blue Note, 2006) Enrico Pieranunzi, * Proximity (2015, CamJazz) Florian Weber, Lucent Waters (ECM, 2018)