Sweet Megg and Ricky Alexander Mine the Old to Make Something New

The pandemic has brought naught but misery to a lot of musicians, no doubt about it. When artists look back on these two years—and hopefully just these two years—few will find anything to be grateful for. So give credit where it’s due to “Sweet” Megg Farrell and Ricky Alexander for finding one silver lining to this long, dark cloud over us all: while assembling a band for their first joint album, the duo had their pick of the best. “Our top choice musicians were all free,” said Megg. “That’s rare, especially rare in New York where everyone plays jazz clubs most nights of the week.” The project was I’m in Love Again, released in June. Megg and Ricky were good enough to tell me about it—the first of many joint ventures, they hope. They spoke to me about their very fruitful meeting by video from The Stanley Hotel, Colorado—the venue which inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. But first I asked them to rewind and tell me where their already well established careers began. Both stories started with a grandma who had great musical taste. “My grandma bought me Kind of Blue,” said Ricky, who grew up in Washington, DC. “Before I could play sax, I could sing that John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley solo all the way through.” His dad inherited swing sensibilities too. “I remember he had this Glenn Miller compilation on repeat in his car,” Ricky add