Busy (and loyal) session violinist and one-time concertmaster for Republic Studios who did a lot of recording with Frank Sinatra during his days at Columbia and Capitol. In fact, you can hear him on Sinatra’s boxed sets, The Columbia Years (1943-1952): The Complete Recordings and The Complete Capitol Singles Collection. He also did some work for Peggy Lee around the same time, sometimes with Sinatra conducting.
In the 1960s, he did a bit of a 180 in recording with The Monkees: He appears on their albums The Bird, The Bees & The Monkees, The Definitive Monkees, Greatest Hits, Instant Replay, and Listen to the Band. One of his most famous recordings is “Daydream Believer”.
Alex also hooked up with Al Hirt on his album Latin in the Horn (arranged and conducted by Lalo Schifrin) and appears on Schifrin’s Explorations and Once a Thief.
Other artists and groups with whom he has recorded include The Everly Brothers, Percy Faith, Judy Garland, Quincy Jones, Earl Klugh, Dean Martin, Anita O’Day, Louis Prima, The Sons of the Pioneers, and Sarah Vaughan. You can check him out on The Definitive Sarah Vaughan and Sarah Vaughan Sings Broadway: Great Songs From Hit Shows.
He performs here on “Daydream Believer” by The Monkees…
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds,_The_Bees_&_the_Monkees
- http://www.percyfaithpages.org/bouquet_of_lovenotes.htm
- http://music.msn.com/artist/?artist=16202606&menu=credits
- http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/credits/0,,528319,00.html
- http://www.dougpayne.com/lsd66_75.htm
- http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Artists/Lee/capitolee2a.html
- http://www.dougpayne.com/lsd55_65.htm