Alex Chadsey has distinguished himself in a wide range of contexts with his unique musical sensitivity. He has performed throughout the U.S. as well as in Mexico, Europe and South America. In 2012 Alex played on the Grammy-award winning album imaginaries (Smithsonian Folkways) by the LA-based band Quetzal. Current projects include reggae legend Clinton Fearon & the Boogie Brown Band, the Sam Boshnack Quintet and Alex’s own trio Duende Libre, whose debut album (2017) distills years of performing, apprenticing with master musicians, and crafting originals that explore Latin elements in new contexts. The group’s second album Drift won an Earshot Golden Ear Award for 2018 “NW Jazz Recording of the Year.” The Dance She Spoke (their third album) was released in July 2020 and is available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and more.
In addition to his achievements as a performer, Alex has been the recipient of multiple grants and awards from the City of Seattle to support collaborations with local, national & international artists, including Sounds Beyond Barriers, a collective songwriting project with youth in 2015 at the King County Juvenile Detention Center in Seattle. Alex holds degrees in music from the Universities of Michigan & Washington and serves on the teaching faculty at Digipen Institute for Technology.