Alex McLaughlin has been marked as representational of what a modern artist entails, in that he is equal parts artist, composer, and educator. Described by Paris Move as possessing a “profound jazz heritage” and a technical foundation based on “the counterpoint traditions of J.S. Bach and Ron Carter,” Alex has been ranked as “one of the finest composers and arrangers of our time” (Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move, 11/21/2024). Performances and studio work have placed Alex alongside musicians such as John Daversa, Ulysses Owens Jr., Laurence Hobgood, Christian Sands, Chuck Redd, Jeremy Siskind, and Jeremy Pelt. Festival appearances have included the 39th International Jazz Plaza Festival in Santiago de Cuba, the Columbus Jazz Festival, the Penn State Summer Festival of the Arts, the Boalsburg People’s Choice Festival, the Erie Jazz Walk, and the Erie Art Museum Blues & Jazz Festival.
Alex serves as the Jazz Program Director of Idyllwild Arts Academy and the Assistant Director of the Jazz in the Pines Student Clinic. Alex has refined and built the jazz curriculum at Idyllwild Arts to meet the needs of a young, international artistic community. Through his efforts, California hosted its first Jazz Girls Day® with Dr. Colleen Clark on the Idyllwild Arts campus in 2025. McLaughlin’s jazz studies students have attended The New School, the Berklee College of Music, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. McLaughlin’s classical bass students have placed as semifinalists in the International Society of Bassists solo competition in the youth solo division.
His 2025 debut release, A Brand New State, featured eight original compositions and has received international attention. Composed of a series of musical vignettes that serve as a meditation on internal and external change, the record reflects McLaughlin’s relationships to loss, hope and perpetual evolution. A Brand New State was produced by Ulysses Owens Jr. and was recorded at Sunset Sounds in Hollywood. In the coming year, Alex will be releasing a record of jazz standards, each composed by one of his favorite bassists, paying homage to the rich tradition of performance and composition double bassists have held in jazz music.
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Alex now resides in the mountain town of Idyllwild, near the Los Angeles metro. His studies in music include Masters Degrees from both Cincinnati Conservatory and The Pennsylvania State University, in addition to private study with James Vandemark at The Eastman School. Summer studies include The Chautauqua Institute Music School Festival Orchestra and Brevard Music Center, where McLaughlin was teaching assistant to bassist Rodney Whitaker and worked under the direction of Michael Dease.
Publicity contact:
Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music
(310) 993-4017
“I studied with Alex while he was a teaching assistant at Penn State University. Thanks to him, I had the most productive 9 months of playing bass since I started 10 years ago. He has incredible insight into the instrument and has a wealth of knowledge to share in his own unique way. Alex is exquisitely trained as a teacher and performer, and he offers not only his technical expertise but his own musical ideas as well. Alex makes his mark as a performer in any ensemble, either jazz or orchestral, and is sure to take his students' playing to the next level.”
Ryan Murnane, PSU bass student
"I am beyond grateful for all the ways in which I have learned and grown as a musician and a bassist thanks to Alex’s teachings. Lessons with Alex always leave me excited to seek new ideas, explore new knowledge, and build new practices. Overall, Alex is a very kind, understanding, patient, creative and extremely knowledgeable bass teacher that makes learning the bass fun, engaging, and exciting."
Nicholas Palermo, PSU bass student