The Alex Skolnick Trio will perform at Barking Legs on Thursday, Aug. 18, at 8 p.m. Admission is $10.
Review for Alex Skolnick:
Heavy metal guitar legend Alex Skolnick brings his jazz trio to Chattanooga Thursday night for a performance at the Barking Legs Theater. Skolnick first shot to fame as a member of the heavy metal group, Testament. Based in the bay area, Testament along with Metallica paved the way for the success of heavy metal in the mainstream during the late 80's and early 90's.
As a member of Testament, Skolnick recorded five albums and countless tours with, among others, Megadeath, Slayer, Judas Priest, and White Zombie. Alex received critical acclaim for his lead guitar work, which had been inspired by heroes such Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads.
In the meantime, however, Alex’s tastes were changing. An exposure to Miles Davis’ electric bands inspired him to push harder to be a serious musician. No longer content to be just a metal player, he began an intense study of many types of music including jazz, funk and world music.
Having grown tired of the metal scene by 1992, Alex quit Testament at the height of their popularity. He devoted himself completely to Jazz earning a BFA in jazz performance from New School University, where he studied with master musicians such as Richie Beirach, George Garzone, Hal Galper and Cecil McBee. In addition to his degree Alex has performed the world over with many notable musicians including Primus bassist Les Claypool and drummer Brain (currently of Guns’n Roses), Wyndham Hill recording artist Michael Manring, Attention Deficit (w/Michael Manring and Primus drummer Tim Alexander), Savatage, Ozzy Osbourne, keyboardist Adam Holzman (of Miles Davis), Broadway star Rob Evan (Les Miserables and Jeckyl And Hyde) and more. Alex continues to be a featured member of the smash hit holiday show Trans-Siberian Orchestra, performing to sold out crowds across the U.S. as well as appearing in local and national radio and television appearances. He has also become active as a composer; with credits including pieces for the EA video game "Hot Wheels Turbo Racing", the USA Network’s broadcast of the 2002 Westminster Dog Show (a big band jazz piece), and the MTV series "Makin’ The Band."
The Alex Skolnick Trio was formed in 2001. Their debut recording "Goodbye To Romance: Standards For A New Generation (Skol Productions) was released in March 2002. Less than a month later, an entire column was devoted to the album in Billboard (Jazz Notes; April, 2002). Within a year, Goodbye To Romance had been awarded 4 ½ stars by Downbeat (March, 2003), was featured in magazines such as Jazziz (March and April, 2003), The Village Voice (Feb. 26, 2003) and more, had reached #26 on the JazzWeek radio charts (August, 2002) and was listed as a ‘Top Seller’ on the on-line retail site CDBaby.
Alex and the Trio performed at such notable music industry conferences as CMJ (New York, NY, 2002) and at SXSW (Austin, TX, 2003) and toured throughout the country to packed houses in such places as Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Texas, New York City and the Rochester International Jazz Festival. They've appeared live on XM Satellite Radio, Fox Morning News, Brother Wease, and many other radio stations including WNEW (New York), WCPN (Cleveland) and WGMC (Rochester).