if anyone lives remotely close to los angeles, you might want to attend a monty alexander show here.  monty is playing with jeff hamilton and john clayton in what's titled "reunion".  i can only assume that this is referring to their famous montreux recording in '76.  i am extremely excited about this, this could possibly be a show of a lifetime for me.  especially considering how rarely monty comes to la and how difficult it is to find out where and if he's playing anywhere.  i'm praying they do a similar set to that montreux album.
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forgot to mention...it's this friday at spazio's.  2-20-2009.
you're gonna love it.  be sure to talk to monty if you get a chance.  tell him you're a jazz pianist and what you're doing, and think of one good question to ask from what you listened to that night. it's almost like getting a lesson.  and if you can swing it, get a lesson from him.  he used to give lessons sometimes in seattle when he was goingn to be at jazz alley. i wasn't able to swing one, but my buddy got a bass lesson from ray brown that way :)
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Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
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sweet.  supposedly, my reservations are for right in front of the stage.  i'll definitely try to talk to him.  lessons from ray brown...that's awesome.  ray was the best.
i'm envious. hopefully some more videos will show up on youtube.
hate to say it, but it wasn't that good.  it was nothing like the montreux alexander album.  clayton played the best in my opinion.
i'm not suprised, he's old now. his albums from the last 20 years don't have the passion of his earlier work in the 60's and 70's.  it reminds me of paul mccartney, he is aged too and has not written a great song in decades.
yeah, i was really disappointed.  i haven't seen a good show in a long time.  i really wish i had gotten a chance to see gene harris in my life.  i regret that a lot.  i guess i just don't dig a lot of the jazz nowadays, even from my favorite guys.
i must have seen gene harris up close in our local jazz club in the 90's at least 12 times. i was often able to chatr with him and his wife before or after a show. we talked about monty, benny green and joe sample. gene said he personally always played with the ladies in the audience in his mind.  he always seemed to give 100% and put on a hell of a show.
that's too bad, sorry to  hear the show wasn't a great one.  i've seen monty play maybe 8 times and two of those were mediocre shows.

was the audience into it?  i've noticed that monty feeds off audience energy.

i saw monty a few years ago at jazz alley in seattle with his "normal" group, they burned, it was amazing. i have a two cd bootleg i made of that concert that hasn't left my car cd changer yet!

interesting about the montreaux trio- i heard clayton, hamilton, and monty play (also at jazz alley) more recently than the group i mentioned above, and do you know what?  i found the  music lacking as well.  

i don't think clayton's playing style meshes very will with monty's need for energy and groove.

if you get a chance to hear monty do his thing with his current players, give it another chance and see the show.

i saw gene harris in concert a couple of times- you didn't miss anything.  same old gene harris formulas.  not saying they weren't fun, but when monty is feeling "on" i go home feeling like i was in the presence of greatness.

if you want to give me your mailing address, i'll send you that recording i mentioned above.  send me a message to scot2 @ learnjazzpiano.com if you want it.
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.

Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
jazz+, i'm envious of you.  i wish i got to see him play and talk to him.

scot, i think i personally prefer gene's playing over monty's.  i get what you're saying about being formulaic, but i just like it, i don't know.  i haven't gotten tired of it yet.
gene did become a little formulaic, but like monty, some of his earlier records are like gold-dust. check out 'live at otter crest' and the 3 sounds albums.
"it reminds me of paul mccartney, he is aged too and has not written a great song in decades"
obviously you have never heard the frog song???
did he cook like this?
cool, a handful of new you-tube monty videos!
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.

Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
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