Alex Dixon | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | April 23, 1975 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1981–present |
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| Website | www |
Alex Dixon (born April 23, 1975) is an American blues musician, songwriter, producer, label owner and industry executive who is the grandson of Willie Dixon, one of the most important figures in the history of American music.
Born in Chicago, Alex was raised by his grandfather and grandmother Marie in the family's South Side home, [1] [2] which was the epicenter of the city's blues community from the 1950s through the early 1980s. Alex started playing piano at age six, taking lessons from several of the most important keyboard players of the era, including Leonard Caston, Willie's former partner in the Big Three Trio; Lafayette Leake, a longtime member of the Muddy Waters Band; Little Brother Montgomery, a self-taught innovator whose career began in the 1920s; and his uncle, Arthur "Butch" Dixon, who toured for years with Willie as a member of his Chicago Blues All-Stars. [3]
At age seven, Alex began performing with his grandfather at schools across the South Side of Chicago in an effort to bring the music to a new, younger audience. Alex played in several different styles as Willie introduced the youngsters to the blues and its history through spoken word and song. Their efforts laid the groundwork for what has become the Blues In The Schools program, an effort that now spans the globe.
When Willie and Marie relocated to the Los Angeles area in 1984, their grandson moved with them. [4] When he was age 11, Willie began incorporating him into the family business and continuing to expose children to the music by appearing with him at local schools, work that later resulted in Alex becoming a member of his touring band for club and festival bookings. [5]
Alex shares songwriting credit with his grandfather on 40 tunes, including "Study War No More," which appeared on Dixon's final album, the Grammy Award-winning Hidden Charms. [6] [7]
After Willie's death, Alex served as a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department for seven years and graduated from Aspen University in 2009 with a degree in criminal justice/law enforcement administration. He retired from the force to resume a career in music, after an off-duty incident involving an ex-convict gang member, who shot at him two or three times without hitting his mark, and who was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a former roommate. [8] [9] [10]
A past vice president of Blues Heaven Foundation, [11] the non-profit organization Willie initiated in 1984, Alex supervised efforts to promote the music and award scholarships to younger musicians, [12] delivering emergency assistance to older artists experiencing life crises and working in their behalf to recoup royalties for their recorded and published works. [13]
He founded Dixon Landing Music—a combined recording label, publishing house and management firm—in Los Angeles in 1989 in an effort to continue his grandfather's legacy in promoting the careers of younger artists. Offices have been based in the San Francisco Bay area since his family relocated in 2012. He also assumed responsibilities as chief executive of Hoochie Coochie Music, which oversees his grandfather's extensive songwriting legacy, in 2016 following the death of his grandmother. [14]
Alex was featured in the November/December 2021 issue of Living Blues , a magazine focused on blues music, which was originally founded in Chicago. [15]
The first release on the Dixon Landing imprint, this collection of post-War blues featured the voice and guitar of Cash McCall, a blues and soul blues artist who worked frequently with Willie Dixon and was a longtime studio musician for Chess Records, Alex on keyboards and harmonica stylings from Steve Bell, the son of Chicago harp stalwart Carey Bell, and other young musicians. The 11 tracks—seven penned by Alex, three by Willie and one by McCall—conveyed the traditional sound established by the elder Dixon. [16]
A blues-rock release, this album opens and closes with short spoken-word segments from Willie Dixon. Alex contributes keyboards with vocals handled by soprano Marcy Levy, aka Marcella Detroit, who co-wrote "Lay Down Sally" with Eric Clapton, as well as guitarist Alan Mirikitani, front man of the Los Angeles-based band BB Chung King and the Buddaheads. The lineup also included longtime Steve Miller Band bassist Gerald Johnson and percussionists James Gadsen, who previously recorded with Aretha Franklin and Aaron Neville, and Alvino Bennett, a longtime member of Koko Taylor & Her Blues Machine. [17]
Dixon returns to his blues roots for this CD, which features contributions from Sugar Blue, the Grammy Award-winning harmonica player who was a former member of Willie's Chicago Blues Allstars, and marks the debut as a front man for Lewis "Big Lew" Powell, best known as the percussionist for Chicago vocalist Nellie "Tiger" Travis. A collection of traditional Chicago blues, it includes seven originals penned by Alex and three covers written by his grandfather. The lineup includes Bennett and Bell along with guitarists Melvin Taylor, Gino Matteo, Rico McFarland and Joey Delgado with Dixon on electric and upright bass and piano with Australian vocalist Whaia and Dixon's daughter, Leila, providing backing vocals. [18]
On April 28, 2013, both Willie Dixon [19] and Alex Dixon [20] were enshrined as members of the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame. The ceremonies were conducted at Buddy Guy's nightclub, Legends. [21]
On June 15, 2015, Dixon performed as a headliner at the Chicago Blues Festival along with McCall, Sugar Blue and other members of the Dixon family as part of its Willie Dixon Centennial Tribute. [22]
William James Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues.
McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll, and jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess and its subsidiary labels Checker and Argo/Cadet. The Chess catalogue is owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records and Universal Music Enterprises.
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Lafayette Leake was an American blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.
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Bob Corritore is an American blues harmonica player, record producer, blues radio show host and owner of The Rhythm Room, a music venue in Phoenix, Arizona. Corritore is a recipient of a Blues Music Award, Blues Blast Music Award, Living Blues Award and a Keeping The Blues Alive Award and more. He produced one album that was nominated for a Grammy Award and contributed harmonica on another.
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Benny Turner is an American blues musician. He is the younger brother of Freddie King and was the bass guitarist for the Freddie King Band. Later, Turner joined Mighty Joe Young as the bass guitarist of his band before becoming the bandleader for Marva Wright for 20 years. After many years as a sideman, Turner started his solo career.
The Little Village Foundation was founded in 2014 by Jim Pugh as a 501(c)(3) organization based in Solvang, California. Pugh is a veteran keyboard player who has toured the world with Robert Cray and Etta James. Little Village Foundation (LVF) is non-profit company in the music industry that produces and distributes what it considers to be culturally significant recordings made by individuals and groups that might otherwise not be heard beyond the artists' community or family. The label serves an access point for previously overlooked artists who retain their intellectual property and album sales through their work with the organization. The artists come from widely varied and sometimes non-traditional backgrounds. Pugh and his find and secure talent to sign and record, and several of the musicians have roots that extend to other nations, including Mexico, India, Russia and the Philippines.
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