LP REVIEW: linking the Caribbean, Jazz and Pablo Picasso with The Monty Alexander 7, Jamento
PABLO, JAPAN ISSUE, MTF 1105, STEREO, 1978
ARTIST
Monty Alexander is one of my favorite pianists, mostly due to his swinging and dynamic style with a little Caribbean flair mixed into it. The hair was not bad either. He looks a little different now, but still pretty stylish :-).
His full name is Montgomery Bernard “Monty” Alexander and he was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1944. He just released a new album, you can check that and more on his website.
It’s impossible to summarize 60+ years in music. He has performed and recorded with artists from every corner of the musical universe: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Barbara Hendricks, Bobby McFerrin, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare, among others.
Monty Alexander and his family came to the United States at the end of 1961. Less than two years later, while playing in Las Vegas with Art Mooney’s orchestra, he caught the eye of New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend…a chap called Frank Sinatra. That did not hurt his career … 🙂
In the summer of 2012, Monty Alexander was awarded the prestigious German Jazz Trophy, “A Life for Jazz” and in November 2012 he received the Caribbean American Heritage Luminary Award from the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington, D.C. Some people rate him amongst the top 5 jazz pianists of all time.
LABEL
Pablo Records is a fantastic label, perhaps somewhat underrated as it lives in the shadow of the Blue Notes of this world. You can always count on Pablo to release great quality vinyl, well recorded, and sport easily recognizable cover art. They have fantastic black & white cover photography – you could collect Pablo for that alone.
The story of Pablo records is a story of producer, Norman Granz, founder of Jazz at the Philharmonic (J.A.T.P.). I wrote about him before – in 1962 he sold his Clef, Norgran, and Verve labels to MGM but about a decade later he decided to take the plunge and start up yet another label, and Pablo Records was born, with that very distinctive logo
Based in Beverly Hills, California, Granz secured a distribution deal and launched Pablo Records in 1973, quickly building a world-class catalog of albums by legendary artists Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass, and Oscar Peterson — all of whom Granz managed — as well as Count Basie, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum (there is a great Art Tatum series on Pablo you should check out), Sarah Vaughan, and many others.
Pablo Records was named in honor of his friend Pablo Picasso. During the late Sixties and early Seventies, Granz enjoyed a close friendship with Pablo Picasso during the latter years of the artist’s life. Granz and his wife were avid collectors, assembling an impressive amount of drawings and prints by the artist. Below print is signed by Picasso “For my friend Norman Granz” with a date of 24 May 1969.
After releasing more than 350 albums in a span of less than 15 years, Granz sold Pablo to Fantasy in 1987, which in turn merged with Concord Records in 2004 to form Concord Music Group.
This particular album is called ‘The Monty Alexander 7″. Seven, including Monty. Why the album sleeve features pictures of only 5 of the band members is anybody’s guess … they even left an empty space on the back cover as you can see. Would have cost nothing to add another picture one would think 🙂
Jamento is a made-up word according to Monty. He put Jamaica and ‘mento’ (for ‘music’) together and presto, we have an album title.
Sometimes people criticize Pablo Records for featuring the great jazz players in their later years so you won’t hear them at their peak. I think this is true on some albums in the catalog but the playing is still fine overall with some stand-out records that are still easy to get. Check out this review site that lists many quality Pablo records.
MUSIC
Monty Alexander. Pablo Records. On vinyl. That’s basically an instant buy! I do not think this guy made any bad albums. Well, maybe one or two, which is not bad given his entire discography of around 70 🙂
This one – Recorded at Group IV Recording Studios, Hollywood (CA), on June 15 and 16, 1978 – is really typical for his crowd-pleasing, joyous, and dynamic style that mixes bebop jazz with a Caribbean vibe – not all of his records are like that btw. Listen to his Montreux session and you will find it is more traditional piano trio jazz. This was the first time he used steel drums on an album.
Lower the stylus in the first track and the album immediately sets into a dynamic and somewhat frantic groove that is very appealing. That accessible and joyously rhythmic style never lets up. It’s an excellent listen. The way he integrated the steel drum and the calypso rhythms is very clever and subtle, which means that even though it adds that Caribbean flavor this is still a jazz album. Jamaican guitar whiz Ernest Ranglin gets a front seat here as well.
I could not find the entire album on youtube, but here is the title song. It should give you a good feel for the album’s vibe.
RAW MUSIC STORE
The album is available on the RAW Music Stores website for 100 AED, it comes with an insert and it’s in great shape.
PERSONNEL
Bass – Andy Simpkins
Drums – Duffy Jackson, Roger Bethelmy
Guitar – Ernest Ranglin
Percussion – Larry McDonald
Piano – Monty Alexander
Steel Drums – Vince Charles
TRACKS
A1 Accompong 6:00
A2 Slippery 7:03
A3 Sugar Loaf At Twilight 8:48
B1 Weekend In L.A. 8:00
B2 Jamento 7:00
B3 Mango Rengue 7:54