Monkey House (band)

Last updated
Monkey House
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Jazz, rock
Years active1992–present
LabelsAquarius/EMI, Marigold/Koch Records, GDM, Alma/Universal
Members
  • Don Breithaupt - lead vocals, keyboards
  • Mark Kelso - drums
  • Pat Kilbride - bass
  • Justin Abedin - guitar
Website www.monkeyhouseofficial.com

Monkey House is a musical group founded by Don Breithaupt, a Canadian pianist, singer/songwriter, composer, arranger, producer and author. The group got its name from a 1968 book by Kurt Vonnegut. [1]

Contents

History

The band formed in 1992, performing songs Breithaupt had written that seemed too jazzy or different for other bands to cover. [2] A number of guest artists have contributed songs and have performed on their albums, including Drew Zingg, Elliott Randall, Michael Leonhart, and Jay Graydon. Steely Dan is one of Breithaupt's biggest influences. [3] The band makes melodic pop with a sophisticated, jazzy twist, [4] with some horn arrangements.

Their debut album Welcome to the Club was released in 1992, on the Aquarius label, based in Canada. It included a cover of a song written by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan called "Lazy Nina", which was covered by Greg Phillinganes in 1984, but never recorded by Fagen himself.

Their second album True Winter, on the Marigold label, released in 1998, found Breithaupt collaborating with Little Feat’s Richie Hayward and David Blamires of the Pat Metheny Group.

In 2005 the compilation album Big Money: Singles Remasters Rarities 1992-2005 was released. It contained thirteen tracks from the first two Monkey House albums, plus four fresh tracks including the single "Tough Love". Guests included Kevin Breit (Norah Jones), Mark Kelso (Gino Vannelli), as well as Hayward and Blamires. [5]

Their fourth album Headquarters was released in 2012, on the Alma record label, which is affiliated with the Universal Music Group. [6] Guest artists included Kim Mitchell, Rik Emmett, Drew Zingg and Michael Leonhart.

An album anthology entitled Retrospective was released in 2013, which includes almost everything Monkey House released over their first two decades. In addition to tunes from their first three albums, the 44-song anthology includes previously unreleased material like "I'm Not That Guy" from the Headquarters sessions, five instrumental tracks and some interviews. [7]

A sixth album was released in June 2016, Left , on the Alma/Universal label. The title references the fact that Breithaupt packed up and moved from Toronto to the west coast, or "left coast", [2] arriving in the Los Angeles area by February 2013. [8] The core group of musicians on the album are drummer Mark Kelso, bassist Pat Kilbride, and guitarist Justin Abedin, with Breithaupt contributing on keyboards, and bassist Peter Cardinali guesting on one track. Besides Elliott Randall and Jay Graydon, other guests include backing vocalists David Blamires (Pat Metheny Group) Lucy Woodward (Snarky Puppy) on backing vocals, William Sperandei on trumpet, and saxophonist Donny McCaslin. Drew Zingg and Michael Leonhart also return to contribute solos. [9] The album debuted at number 9 on the iTunes U.S. Jazz chart, number 2 on the iTunes Canada jazz chart, [10] and peaked at Number 24 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart [11]

Discography

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<i>Left</i> (Monkey House album) 2016 studio album by Monkey House

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Don Breithaupt is a Canadian pianist, singer/songwriter, composer, arranger, producer and author.

Drew Zingg is an American rock, blues, soul and jazz guitarist, best known for his performing with Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs.

<i>Headquarters</i> (Monkey House album) 2012 studio album by Monkey House

Headquarters is a studio album by the music group Monkey House, released in May 2012, on Alma Records, which is affiliated with the Universal Music Group. It was primarily recorded at the Drive Shed in Toronto. It was produced and arranged by Don Breithaupt, and the engineer was John 'Beetle' Bailey. Breithaupt is the founder and leader of Monkey House, who have been recording since 1992. Their previous two albums were Welcome to the Club (1992), and True Winter (1998). In 2005, they released Big Money, a collection of singles, remasters, and rarities. Stylistically, the Headquarters album shows it to be influenced by the music of Steely Dan, with arranged horns and background vocals throughout. Breithaupt says the tunes are "pop songs with too many chords!" Also, some guitar work comes from guest artists Drew Zingg, as well as from Kim Mitchell and Rik Emmett. Also making contributions on this album are Steely Dan trumpet player and musical director Michael Leonhart, with Julie Crochetière and David Blamires adding backup vocals. Headquarters has generated increasing attention and multi-genre airplay for Monkey House, with a growing international audience.

<i>Retrospective</i> (Monkey House album) 2013 compilation album by Monkey House

Retrospective is an anthology album by the music group Monkey House, which was released in 2013 on the Green Dolphin Music label. Monkey House is a rock/pop/jazz group led by Don Breithaupt. This release has a total of 44 tracks: 38 songs, plus six interviews. It includes almost every tune from their first two albums, Welcome to the Club (1992), and True Winter (1998), and also has four newer songs that were on the 2005 release entitled Big Money: Singles Remasters Rarities 1992-2005. Additionally, six tunes not previously released are on this anthology album, five of them being instrumentals, as well as the tune "I'm Not That Guy" from the Headquarters sessions, but had not been included on that album. Special guests include Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward and former Pat Metheny Group member David Blamires.

References

  1. ↑ "Alma Records".
  2. 1 2 "Don Breithaupt, of Monkey House: Something Else! Interview". 12 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "MONKEY HOUSE RELEASE NEW ALBUM HEADQUARTERS AT THE ORBIT ROOM MAY 15, 9PM - Cashbox Magazine Canada". 14 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "DonBreithaupt". www.socan.com.
  5. ↑ "Monkey House Discography at CD Universe".
  6. ↑ "Labels | Umusic". www.umusic.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30.
  7. ↑ "♫ Retrospective - Monkey House. Listen @cdbaby". cdbaby.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "A Conversation With ... Don Breithaupt - FYIMusicNews". fyimusicnews.ca. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Monkey House - Alma Records".
  10. ↑ "New CD From Monkey House Nabs Impressive Chart Debuts: #9 on iTunes U.S. Jazz Chart, #2 on Canada iTunes Jazz Chart; The Brainchild of Don Breithaupt, Popular Groove/Jazz/Pop/AC Band Celebrates Release of 'Left' via ALMA Records - JazzCorner.com News". jazzcorner.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Monkey House - Chart history - Billboard". billboard.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
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