Artiste: The Monty Alexander Trio
Album: Montreux Alexander
Spotlight Track: You Make Me Feel Brand New
Label: MPS
Monty Alexander : Piano
John Clayton : Bass
Jeff Hamilton : Drums
Produced by Willi Furth
Engineered by John Timperley
Ok folks, this week’s Zao Gng is gonna rock your socks off!
It is indeed a supreme pleasure for me to review today one of the best and most memorable jazz concerts in history… The Monty Alexander Trio Live at Montreux Jazz 76′!! Talk about hot shit… this album is firing on all cylinders!
The energy and sky high vibes from this trio stems from nothing other than perfect chemistry through a tight-knit meeting of musical minds – similar to Miles and Coltrane, Count Basie and Freddie Green, etc etc.
How it all started for Monty was through the great Ray Brown, who introduced him to one of his bass students, Mr. John Clayton. Later on, John brought Jeff Hamilton along and soon after, they started a trio playing gigs at joints like Ronnie Scott’s in London and tearin’ the place apart. The Montreux 76′ gig however was pretty fluke cos they were supposed to be a filler band, playing in between Stan Getz and Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. However, being a relatively young and enthusiastic trio, they just decided to not shy, just wear tuxedo, go on stage and whack da bugger (ala Ronnie Scott’s). Riding on that extroverted approach coupled with a special chemistry and shared cohesiveness, they basically released a burner of a set which rocked those unsuspecting jazzheads at Montreux that night.
To be honest, I love this whole album. The flow, the skill, the vibe, the groove.. PERFECT! To choose a spotlight from this live album was a real headache cos every single cut here is pure dope – start to finish. In the end I decided on ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ (orginally by the Stylistics) because through it’s familiarity, you can really see how Monty and partners translated this slow burner into a jazz scorcher. Beyond steam!
Thanks to YouTube, we’ll be able to view 2 excerpts from this live performace, check it!
Nite Mist Blues: They started their set with this Ahmad Jamal blues number. Take a listen and you can imagine how stunned the audience was from hearing such energy and high quality from a little know trio meant to be a filler. Confirm some of their face blur outz.. hahaha!! Shiok!
Satin Doll: The swing is flying on this one. Monty and crew rode the groove and showed pure snap to this Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn classic. Respect!
So there you go ladies and gentlemen. Don’t waste time please. The CD is available at all good music stores. Just go and buy, you won’t regret but guaranteed you’ll be swinging from tree to tree :)
Tangkap This!!!
-Crispian
