Presenting

RAMON ALEXANDER
Trio

OVERVIEW

Ramon Alexander is an award-winning pianist, composer, band leader and educator. At ForestJAZZ this March, listen out for his signature blend of traditional Cape jazz and modern influences. He will feature experienced musicians in a compelling performance.

THE BAND

RAMON ALEXANDER – Piano & Composer
CHADLEIGH GOWAR – Bass
ANNEMIE NEL – Drums & Percussion

Ramon Alexander
Alexander is a pianist, and composer considered a leading exponent of Cape Jazz. He studied jazz piano under Merton Barrow at The Jazz Workshop in Cape Town after he finished high school. He however graduated with a B.Sc. Agric) from Stellenbosch University in 2004 in viticulture and oenology.

Since then, he was selected in Makhanda as pianist for the Standard Bank National Youth Big Band in 2004, Alexander worked with a variety of artists such as American jazz icon Hubert Laws, Khaya Mahlangu, Robbie Jansen, Errol Dyers, McCoy Mrubata, Leslie
Kleinsmith, Mark Hauser, Tuur Forizone, Frank Paco’s Art Ensemble, Japanese trumpet
legend, Terumasa Hino and The Cape Jazz Band, led by veteran drummer Jack Momple.

Besides participating in numerous local performance engagements, he has travelled
Europe, Asia, and the USA. His ensemble has performed at numerous local and
international music festivals, notably the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Journey to Jazz International Jazz Festival, Borneo International Jazz Festival, and The Darling Music Experience as well a residency at No Black Tie Jazz Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2019.

Alexander has two albums to his credit (Picnic at Kontiki [2011] and Echoes from
Louwskloof [2015]). In 2018, Mountain Records released Cape Jazz Piano. He’s also
produced numerous recording projects across various genres, most notably Essence of
Spring [2018] by Cape Town jazz icon Ibrahim Khalil Shihab. He is also a lecturer at
Stellenbosch University’s music department where he currently heads their jazz division
and regularly conducts jazz ensemble workshops for youth bands in the Western Cape.

He is also an award-winning curator, producer, and musical director at numerous art festivals around South Africa. In 2024 he served on the National Youth Jazz Festival’s selection panel for the prestigious National Youth Band in Makhanda. Alexander is the National Schools conductor of 2025.

Chadleigh Gowar
Gowar is an award-winning electric bass specialist that has work with the likes of Jonathan Butler Marian Meadows, Elan Trotman to name a few. He is also a consummate band leader and has performed at various art and music festivals in South Africa.

Annemie Nel
Despite her training as a classical pianist and percussionist, Nel has emerged as one of the leading figures of goema drumming. She is the drummer and founding member for The Lady Day Big Band, the first all-female big band in South Africa.

Nel has performed and recorded with the likes of Hubert Laws, Ibrahim Khalil Shihab, Prince Lengoasa, Jonathan Butler, Amanda Tiffin, Tete Mbambisa and Spencer Mbadu.

Discography
Taxi 1022 (2010),
Picnic at Kontiki (2011),
Echoes from Louwskloof (2015),
Essence of Spring (2019),
Sounds of Cape Town – Riel, Ghoema & Cape Jazz (2022).