Jazz Articles about Tony Monaco

About Tony Monaco

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Album Review

The current state of recorded music is in flux in ways like it has never been before. Young audiences have fickle tastes and like to pick and choose tracks on streaming platforms. So the idea of an album being a complete and unique entity is a totally foreign idea to many listeners under 30. Nonetheless, the album concept has been integral to jazz listeners from the debut of the long playing record. Imagine the jazz lexicon without Miles Davis' Kind ...

Album Review

Tony Monaco: The Definition of Insanity

by Nicholas F. Mondello
February 21, 2019

The popular quote referenced in this CD's title has been attributed to many--most frequently to Albert Einstein. With this fine offering, organ virtuoso Tony Monaco steers clear of Sisyphean do-overs and delivers eleven diverse and well-performed tracks. “Cars Trucks Buses" by Phish's Page McConnell kicks the session off with a hefty, “short'nin' bread" B3 cooker. From this slick get-go, Monaco shows he's got A1 jazz chops and his colleagues are right there with him on the trip. ...

Album Review

Tony Monaco: The Definition of Insanity

by Mark Corroto
February 1, 2019

Did you order it? Somebody ordered the party platter, because B3 maestro Tony Monaco is delivering. His music is for all intents and purposes a celebration. With The Definition of Insanity, a reference to doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, he confesses to be under the influence of the same mania as the legends Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff, Reuben Wilson, Richard Groove" Holmes, and Jimmy McGriff. If this man is insane, I ...

Live Review

2018 Hope College Jazz Organ Summit

by C. Andrew Hovan
March 23, 2018

2018 Hope College Jazz Organ Summit featuring Tony Monaco, Gerard Gibbs, and Dr. Lonnie Smith Hope College Holland, Michigan March 9-11, 2018 Back in the fall of 2016, a small liberal arts college on the banks of Lake Michigan decided to serve as the epicenter of activity aimed at gaining more respect for the art of jazz organ playing. Over the course of that weekend, artists and students alike would bond over their commonalities and ...

Live Review

2016 Hope College Jazz Organ Summit

by C. Andrew Hovan
September 28, 2016

Jazz Organ Summit Hope College Holland, Michigan September 9-10, 2016 Located in Western Michigan along the banks of Lakes Michigan and Macatawa, the small college town of Holland is not the type of place you might imagine for a gathering of musicians, students and jazz organ aficionados. Nonetheless, this quaint spot would serve as host to a very unique two-day event that was the brainchild of organist Tony Monaco. Working with Hope College, a small ...

Interview

Tony Monaco: Taking Jazz Organ to the Summit

by C. Andrew Hovan
August 31, 2016

Columbus, Ohio native Tony Monaco is primed and ready to place jazz organ in a whole new spotlight. Although he has been a playing musician for most of his life, it has been during the past sixteen years that he has made the biggest strides as an artist. A gifted educator with a unique approach to instruction, Monaco recently sat down to discuss his past experiences and to promote a major event that he has spearheaded with the help of ...

Live Review

Tony Monaco Trio at BLU Jazz+

by C. Andrew Hovan
December 10, 2015

Tony Monaco Trio BLU Jazz+ Akron,Ohio November 27, 2015 When it comes to jazz hotspots in Ohio, the choices are relatively small. All that changed about a year ago when developer Tony Troppe and VP of Talent and Events Mike Wyatt II got together to put Akron on the map as a jazz destination with the opening of BLU Jazz+. With live jazz every Wednesday through Saturday evenings, the club has the distinction of recently ...