Album Notes

The making of this record was a blast. It was recorded the same way that Jazz records were made during fifties: live. The whole thing was done in two recording sessions one week apart. We were inspired and fed of each other. We played with our ears wide open and everybody put their best into the music.

The album is composed of six originals and one standard.

The idea for Mambo Supreme came after a gig. I played with a Latin jazz band and we did “Mambo Influenciado” by Chucho Valdes. On the way to the gig I had Branford Marsalis version of Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” When I started my solo during the gig the first four notes of “Acknowledgement” (in the Mambo’s key) came out. When I got home I had a sort of call and response in my ears for a nice head to a Latin beat. When Rocio heard me whistling the finished melody she got hooked and wanted to sing the head. It was a one take affair with her. Carlos is doing amazing things on the drums (and yes it is a cha cha). Also, pay special attention to Greg’s first chord during Rocio’s solo and to his montunos.

Playing with food was the first song I have ever composed. I was playing (struggling with?) a lot of bebop at the time and just wondered what would happened if I slowed it down and play those kind of heads with a theatrical/Broadway show tune style in the back. I love Jerry’s solo in this tune.

Pater Monki is an emotionally charged tune. I was listening to a lot of Horace Silver. We didn’t rehearse this tune before going to the studio. I just talked about what it meant to me before the recording and the guys executed to perfection. Carlos brushes work and Jerry’s overly sensitive bass sustain the song. Greg and I split one chorus on the solos.

No More Bossa (if you read the title in Spanish the title acquires another meaning). Jan was playing around with the chords (which involve really weird changes). We started to jam and the melody came right out.

Blues De Ese: I heard Dayna Stephens playing with a bunch of exciting players, which included Taylor Eigsti, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Jalil Shaw. I was immediately taken by his solos. I hustled a lesson and Dayna was generous enough to uncover “some of his secrets”. This song came after the lesson. It is dedicated to him. Greg’s solo is just insane!

You’re stuck till I call is an homage to Duke Ellington.

The only standard in the collection is “I fall in love to easily.” I heard Brad Mehldau’s interpretation on a friend’s car and something clicked. I went home, got the music and started to improvise on it. What you hear is the fourth take.

The band....
Moises P Monk: Tenor sax
Jerry Burdick: Bass
Greg Sankovitch: Piano
Carlos Almeida Jr.: Drums
with
Rocio Guitard: Voice on "Mambo Supreme"
Jan Pauck: Guitar on "No More Bossa"
Russell Bond: Assorted percussion, engineering, and mixing