DEBORA SHAULIS | On the Scene Tuning in to musician's work

Darryl Alexander Sr.'s smooth jazz music has been played during recent episodes of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Millions of people were tuned in, but not Alexander.
This Youngstown son says he videotapes those TV broadcasts and watches them later -- perhaps a few months from now. It's easy to become hypercritical when you're listening with musician's ears, he notes, so he puts some distance between himself and those events.
Hearing his music on TV or radio is "just a real peculiar feeling," Alexander said this week. "You've got to get comfortable with that."
What Alexander has eased into is the life of an independent musician.
Other job
It's not his only work. Alexander is as director of Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program Inc. (YUMADAOP). That's a state-funded agency that works to prevent violence and drug, tobacco and alcohol abuse in the black and Hispanic communities, especially among young people.
Alexander has been a musician even longer than he has worked for YUMADAOP.
It was political science that led Alexander to at Kent State University, although he did take a number of music classes there, he said. After returning to Youngstown, he met up with a good friend who was studying music with local teacher Sam D'Angelo.
Alexander decided that if he wanted to take the next step in music, he needed more formal education. He studied arranging, composition and more with D'Angelo, who's an "excellent teacher," Alexander said.
These days, Alexander is a composer with DSM Producers of New York. His music catalog is available internationally through Warner Chappell Music, which is the publishing arm of Warner Bros. Music.
Promotional duties
But Alexander's contract with DSM doesn't call for promotion of his CDs inside the United States. It'll be up to him to market and sell his latest recording, "Diamond in the Sky," which will go on sale in local stores next month and nationally in September.
An "extraordinary amount of work" comes with being independent, Alexander said, but it's worth it. He can plan for the long haul without worrying whether a big music label is going to drop him from its roster. If he sells a CD for $12, he gets all $12, while profits go to the big labels long before they reach contracted musicians.
Most importantly, he retains artistic control over his music.
Alexander's music has been played on "Saturday Night Live" several times as well as other TV productions. "SNL" producers don't tell him what kind of music they're looking for, he said. They report back on what they did and didn't like from his catalog. They tend to keep him on his toes: "Looking at the stuff that they've used, it's kind of all over the place."
"Diamond in the Sky" follows Alexander's earlier albums "17th Street" and "Tea For Two." This time, the self-described studio musician says he made room for more live instrumentation. Guest artists include saxophonist Kenny Blake, who records with Cleveland-based jazz label Heads Up International; pianist and trumpeter Kim Pensyl, who teaches at Ohio State University; and saxophonist Kenny Anderson, who has performed with singer Gloria Estefan.
Sometimes, canned can't do
Smooth jazz is in a transition, Alexander said. Musicians are getting away from a canned sound. "Now you are really getting the trend of people, groups, really playing -- playing for playing's sake, creating for creating's sake. What comes out comes out."
Yes, Alexander confirmed, there is a Youngstown sound. "It's very funky, raw. Guitarwise, it's a little bit leaning toward rock. There's a funky edge to it, a lot of groove."
It's a sound that interests other producers. Alexander's CD sales are strongest in Columbus and on the West Coast, where he has made contacts. The West Coast folks want to capture the sounds originating in Midwest cities such as Youngstown, he said.
That's music to a local performer's ears.
XDebora Shaulis is entertainment editor. Write her at shaulis@vindy.com. Darryl Alexander's CD will be available next month at Geo's Music in downtown Youngstown and Barnes & amp; Noble Booksellers in Boardman.