| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Monty Alexander Trio Reunion '76 | |
| groyann -- 12/05/2006, 02:13:12 -- #31550 | |
| I saw Monty Alexander yesterday, in a small concert room here in Strasbourg. Waow ! It was wonderful (thanks to Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton), this trio is an enormous swing machine !! They have progressed incredibly since Montreux '77. | |
| Jazz+ -- 12/05/2006, 08:17:44 -- #31550 | |
| Those guys are great! What tunes did they play? I wish there was some YouTube clips of Monty Alexander. | |
| Scot -- 12/05/2006, 08:30:07 -- #31550 | |
| I heard they were getting together for a reunion tour! Very cool, I'll have to keep my eye out for them. Last summer I had some conversations with Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton (not at the same time). Both of those guys say that they can't stand the Montreux 77 recording, even though it's one of the most swingin' recordings out there. | |
| groyann -- 12/06/2006, 00:04:18 -- #31550 | |
| The only tunes I know were Nite Mist Blues, and No Woman No Cry. | |
| Brotherdavies -- 12/06/2006, 01:32:10 -- #31550 | |
| I sure hope they come to UK - I'd travel far to see them. Monty is top of my list for artists to catch live. | |
| jmderay -- 12/06/2006, 01:56:53 -- #31550 | |
| Oooooh sh.t !! they were here in Monte-Carlo on Sunday night, and I missed that. I'm a fool ! Here the trio was inviting Clark Terry and Russell Malone, 2 other monsters, was it this way in Strasbourg, Groyann ? I've on paper Monty can easily switch from Lyrique to ballades, bebop, stride, calypsos, latin jazz and caribean ans so on .., well so diverse, is that what you felt about his repertoire ? | |
| groyann -- 12/06/2006, 04:46:34 -- #31550 | |
| No, they played in trio... Yes, exactely, they play a lot of swing tunes, plus a caribean on (I loved it !), plus a reggae (No Woman No Cry). And Monty played some very tasty ballad/lounge intro on all tunes. IMO, the genius in this trio is Jeff Hamilton. He is a very innovative drummer with a great sense of swing, and he keeps his sense of humor. | |
| Scot -- 12/07/2006, 00:05:09 -- #31550 | |
| Monty's background is traditional Jamaican music mixed with swing mixed with R&B. He's not any kind of purist, just plays music because he loves it. That's what makes him so fun to listen to- he's having so much fun and stylistically he just plays whatever he wants, totally by ear. | |
| Jazz+ -- 12/23/2006, 21:13:41 -- #31550 | |
| I have his very fisrt three lps on vinyl where he was playing like Les Meccann, back then he covered "Hey Jude". He is a jazz pianist firstmost. | |
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