Frank Sinatra and his close friend Jilly Rizzo were passing through a Miami spot called Le Bistro in 1962 when the playing of an 18-year-old pianist caught their ears.

The musician was Jamaican Monty Alexander. He made such on impression on ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ that the famed American singer/actor recommended him for a job at Jilly’s, Rizzo’s club in Manhattan, New York.

“Six months later, there I was…I remained on and off for three years, from 1963 to 1966. During that period, on many occasions I played with and for Frank Sinatra,” Alexander recalled in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“Throughout the following years, he would frequently drop in the various jazz clubs I would be playing around the United States. I was invited on occasions to his house parties and those of his friends, so I knew him in a more friendly and personal way than just playing the piano for him.”

On February 13, Alexander pays tribute to Sinatra in ‘Monty Alexander And Friends: Sinatra at 100’ at the Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater.

Alexander and his band will be accompanied by Grammy-winning American jazz vocalist Kurt Elling.

“This is more than a concept. It is a piece of my own personal and musical life history; a retelling of some of my many encounters with Frank Sinatra,” Alexander recalled. “The producers of Jazz at Lincoln Center knew of my story and invited me to present it to their audience.”

At Jilly’s, Alexander rubbed shoulders with the biggest names in jazz and show business: Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Erroll Garner, Judy Garland, and Johnny Carson. After his ‘apprenticeship’ there, he played and recorded with acclaimed musicians, including legendary trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

Born in New Jersey to Italian parents, Sinatra made his name as a nightclub singer in New York during the 1930s before breaking into films early in the next decade.

He died in 1998 at age 82.

Rizzo, who also had Italian heritage, was Sinatra’s personal aide for many years and one of his best friends. He was killed in an auto accident, on his birthday, in February 1992 at age 75.

Alexander was born in Kingston and attended Jamaica College. He started his career playing in clubs and as a session musician before migrating to South Florida with his family in 1961.

On his 1997 album, Echoes Of Jilly’s, he revisited his years at the famous club by covering some of Sinatra’s standards.

“The last time I actually saw him (Sinatra) was his 75th birthday in New York City. However, the very last time I heard from him was some time after that, when he sent me a letter of appreciation for a recording I did of his music that I dedicated to Jilly Rizzo, his best friend and the man who brought me to the big time,” said Alexander.