Active across gospel, blues, R&B, spontaneous improvisation, world and other styles, Alexander has taken advantage of the richness of Chicago’s musical scene, also gaining membership in the storied experimental collective the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). In addition to her own projects, she has worked and recorded with luminaries including Ramsey Lewis, Hamid Drake, Ernest Dawkins, Isaiah Collier and Malachi Thompson.

Born in Chicago, she found jazz through her mother, who would play records by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and other vocal greats around the house. In school, she sang in musicals, and during the holidays, she toured internationally with gospel group Sue Conway and the Victory Singers. The local multi-instrumentalist “Light” Henry Huff became a key mentor and collaborator. “He encouraged me to take risks and cross boundaries which put me on the path to becoming an accomplished voice improviser,” Alexander later said. “He was one of my greatest influences.”

She is featured on three recordings with Malachi Thompson – 47 th Street (Delmark 1997); Rising Daystar – (Delmark 1999); and Blue Jazz (Delmark 2003). In 2008 she was featured on Corey Wilkes Drop It (Delmark 2008); Other albums featuring Alexander: Metropolitan Jazz Octet – Its Too Hot for Words (Delmark 2019) – celebrating Billie Holiday; Ramsey Lewis and the Urban Knights VII (Ropeadope 2019); Chicago Soul Jazz Collective – On The Way to be Free – (2022); Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few – The Almighty (Division 81 Records 2024); and Emma Dayhuff’s Innovations & Lineage The Chicago Project (Division 81 Records 2025).

In 2008 she released Wild as the Wind (BluJazz) which received a 5 star review from Downbeat, Dee Alexander’s Evolution Ensemble – Sketches of Light (Egea 2014) celebrating the music of her mentor Light Henry Huff; and returned to her roots recording a set of — as the title indicated — Songs My Mother Loves (BluJazz 2014) including classics associated with Abbey Lincoln, Holiday and other legendary singers. “While Dee Alexander is rightly viewed as a musical treasure in her hometown of Chicago, albums like this ... should go a long way in expanding her reach,” one reviewer wrote of the project.

Alexander is currently a host on the nationally syndicated WFMT Jazz Radio Network.