Alex Koo - Blame It On My Chromosomes [CD]

Format: CD
Catalogue No.: WERF266CD
Barcode: 5414166682072
Release Date: 21 Feb 2025
Genre: Contemporary Classical/Contemporary Jazz

Alex Koo is known for creating music that transcends genre boundaries, blending jazz, indie, contemporary classical and film music with innovative freedom. Featuring celebrated trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire on two tracks, Blame It on My Chromosomes highlights Koo’s fearless versatility.

“Alex Koo defies categorization.” - Jazzthetik magazine
“stunningly original” - Downbeat Jazz Magazine

Reviews confirmed for MOJO, Jazzwise and Downbeat (US) and support from BBC Radio 6.

The son of a Belgian missionary sent to Japan in the seventies and a Japanese peace activist, pianist and composer Alex Koo refuses to be boxed into any traditional category. 

With ten uniquely personal tracks, Blame It on My Chromosomes is more than a musical statement; it is a form of self-therapy. “The only way not to spiral into depression as a jazz musician nowadays is to vent and lose yourself in the music,” Koo shares. “Music needs a purpose beyond self-promotion. For me, it’s about accepting who I am and letting go of anything else.”

Featuring celebrated trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire on two tracks, Blame It on My Chromosomes highlights Koo’s fearless versatility. One of these tracks, "Jonass," is dedicated to Koo’s childhood friend who tragically passed away, adding a deeply personal layer to the album. "When we were kids, we would skate and do stupid things with shopping carts, inspired by Jackass,” Koo recalls. “That’s why we called Jonas ‘Jonass’—he had the biggest smile you could imagine, his laugh was contagious, yet he also was the most reckless one among us.”

Koo, praised as “stunningly original” (Downbeat Jazz Magazine), is known for creating music that transcends genre boundaries, blending jazz, indie, contemporary classical and film music with innovative freedom. A native of rural West-Flanders, Belgium, he began his musical journey as a classical piano prodigy at the age of five. In his teens, he developed a passion for jazz and improvisation, earning praise from jazz legends such as Kurt Elling, Kenny Werner, and Brad Mehldau. Koo has even been described as “of the same rare high level as Keith Jarrett” (Trouw). His 2019 album, Appleblueseagreen, featuring Mark Turner and Ralph Alessi, was included in Downbeat’s Best Albums of the Year.

CD 1. Alex Koo - Hey Man, We Should Play Sometime (feat. Ambrose Akinmusire) 2. Alex Koo - Eagle of the Sun 3. Alex Koo - Desert Messiah 4. Alex Koo - Slowly 5. Alex Koo - Elements 6. Alex Koo - Intro to Nothing 7. Alex Koo - idiosyncratic moving of feet and body 8. Alex Koo - Doritos Everywhere 9. Alex Koo - Jonass (feat. Ambrose Akinmusire) 10. Alex Koo - Blame It on My Chromosomes