Album Review
For Your Consideration!
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Darwin AI: Survivor Choice
Alternative Jazz Album
(Click on the album covers above to zoom-in on the details!)
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Reviews/Interviews about Darwin AI: Survivor Choice!
“★★★★… full of infectious grooves…vocals trading off with soulful piano fills…stimulating and thought-provoking”
— Scott Yanow, Jazz Journalist/Historian
“★★★★…Otey blends the harmonic sophistication of classic jazz with the sleek accessibility of pop, creating an atmosphere that feels both intricate and effortlessly inviting”
— Album Review by We Write About Music
“★★★★… The album’s foundation is Otey’s virtuosity, notably his trumpet playing crackles with warmth and precision, while his piano and keyboard work bring an intoxicating mix of groove and lyricism.”
— Listen to Interview with Austin Sher
“★★★★…ambitious and thought-provoking alternative jazz album that masterfully intertwines scientific evolution with artistic expression”
— C. Gordon Gifford, Tech in Music Futurist
Enjoy a video of Selectio Aptissima on YouTube!
by artist Joe Gyurcsak
Darwin AI: Survivor Choice by Alex Otey is an Alternative Jazz journey that bridges Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution with humanity’s next leap — Artificial Intelligence. Blending jazz, rock, blues, Latin, and classical influences, Otey explores evolution from the Great Oxidation Event to the rise of AI as a potential “apex predator.” Both thought-provoking and soulful, the album reimagines science as music, challenging us to reflect on survival, adaptation, and the choices that shape our future.
Darwin AI: Survivor Choice
Alex Otey’s latest alternative jazz album is a bold sonic experiment, mixing genre-blending compositions with the evolving tension between nature and technology.
Inspired by the principles of Darwinism, the album explores how natural selection, adaptability, and diversity play out in our modern digital age. Musically, it’s a hybrid of styles—rock, blues, Latin and even classical—which reflect some of the diversity that has evolved in music over time.
** Disclaimer ** No AI was harmed in the making of this project (or used)!
It’s a musical Darwinian perspective describing our technological advancement toward Artificial Intelligence.
The album includes aspects of Darwin Evolution Theory such as: Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest, Apex Predators, Competition in Nature and Adaptability, and broadens these focuses for technology. Man’s Advantageous Trait of invention has fostered Social & Technological change, which takes “Natural Selection” to a new level, being “Artificial Selection“ (the enduring technology we create as an adjunct to our own evolution). And, we are often challenged with choices to make in handling the technology we invent.
Tracks from the album with their subtitles are:
Universal Flux (Creation By Recombination)
Go Event (The Great Oxidation Event)
Selectio Aptissima (Survival of the Fittest)
Spitzenpraedator (Apex Predator)
Recombinant (Reinventing Life)
Aedifico (Building)
Survivor Choice (Evolving To AI)
The album released Aug 22, 2025 and you can view the Liner Notes Here!
This page provides a full-play review of the album for a limited time.
Visit the major digital distributors indicated, such as Spotify, to hear other releases, and THANK YOU for Your Consideration!
Alex Otey
SINGER/MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST & MUSIC PRODUCER
Governor Recording Academy
Philadelphia GRAMMY® Chapter Board Member
NARAS & LARAS Voting Member
Producer & Featured Artist of GRAMMY® Nominated Album
Participant Artist on GRAMMY® Nominated & Winning Albums
Multi-Award Winning Jazz Piano-Vocalist and Producer
Host of Trenton Jazz Show on WWFM JazzOn2 89.1 HD2
BS in Physics & Atmospheric Sciences, Drexel University
Masters from Berklee College of Music
Visit Alex Otey’s AllAboutJazz Page
Musicians on Darwin AI: Survivor Choice
— Interview with Austin Sher
— Album Review by C. Gordon Gifford, Tech in Music Futurist
“Darwin AI: Survivor Choice” is an ambitious and thought-provoking alternative jazz album that masterfully intertwines scientific evolution with artistic expression. Drawing inspiration from Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking theories, the album explores the intricate dance of natural selection, mutation, cooperation, and adaptation—both in biological evolution and the rapid technological advancements of AI.From the opening track, “Universal Flux,” the album sets a philosophical tone, likening Darwin’s discovery of evolution to the revolutionary realization of the universe’s heliocentric model. Each subsequent piece deepens this narrative: “GO Event” reflects the profound impact of the Great Oxidation Event, symbolizing a pivotal evolutionary leap; “Selectio Aptissima” delves into survival and adaptation, emphasizing the nuanced concept of natural selection beyond mere strength; and “Spitzenpraedator” raises probing questions about the dominance of species—specifically mankind—and the potential ascendancy of AI as the ultimate predator.
Tracks like “Recombinant” and “Aedificio” underscore themes of self-reinvention and the natural laws governing life’s building blocks, echoing Darwin’s ideas of natural laws and evolution as a self-creating process. The album culminates with “Survivor Choice,” poignantly highlighting humanity’s pivotal role in shaping the future of our technological evolution, and our collective responsibility in guiding AI’s development.
Musically, the album’s hybrid approach—incorporating rock, blues, Latin rhythms, and classical elements—mirrors the diversity and complexity of both biological and cultural evolution. Lyrically, it stirs introspection about the societal and ethical implications of technology’s relentless march forward.
Overall, “Darwin AI: Survivor Choice” pushes jazz’s boundaries, blending scientific insight with artistic innovation. It challenges listeners to contemplate the profound questions of existence, adaptation, and the future of human and machine coexistence, making it a compelling and ambitious addition to modern musical discourse.
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