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| Progressive Talent Marcus Monteiro Kicks Into Overdrive On MM4 by Ginny Shea Music emanates from Marcus Monteiro like the ring around a winter moon. Since he began playing along to Maceo Parker and Johnny Hodges in his bedroom way back in junior high, he's been mesmerized by the challenge of creating an authentic vibe and hooked on the stimulation making music creates. Monteiro's new album, MM4, is the highest rung in an already impressive ladder, a boundary-pushing work of intense courage, with a quality cast of supporting musicians you'd be hard-pressed to match. In forging his artistry, Monteiro is inspired by any and all music, from the mainstream-ish triumphs of Dave Holland and Brad Mehldau to the titillating experiments of John Cage and Squarepusher. Early on, after gigging with some older Cape Verdean musicians as a kid, he formed a band called Gala Jive Jut, a quartet of genre-benders that worked the roots of funk, rock, jazz, and electronica into an exhilarating and danceable style. He'd go on to spend four years studying Composition and Performance in college, in addition to serving apprenticeships with sax player Rick Britto, drummer Royal Hartigan, and guitarist Jim Robitaille, winner of the 2002 Thelonious Monk Jazz Composition award. Collectively, these experiences have provided Monteiro with a deep and thorough understanding of theory, performance, technique, and composition. The benefits of this experience, accompanied by Monteiro's incredible instincts, are there for the hearing on MM4. Around every corner, within every tune on MM4, Monteiro explores a unique mood, color, or technique. Like a hunting dog on the trail of hot scent, Monteiro follows his musical instincts wherever they might lead. The first track "Resemblance" begins with the pretense of mainstream composition, except for the effects on Monteiro's alto sax and the loops he employs. "Anisomoetropia, " named after a rare eye condition Monteiro has that causes the left eye to be nearsighted and the right to be farsighted, is turned into a compelling discourse on short-sighted, right-wing-left-wing politics. "Brute Force Algorithm" is Monteiro's take on John Cage's "Chance Music, " and it demonstrates that as a composer the man is always willing to take on new challenges. Monteiro is fully committed to his work as a musician, so committed that he's been discovered sleeping in the school hallway by the morning janitor, saxophone nestled to his chest. He spends his spare time learning Indian raga, drum n' bass, West African polyrhythms, and video game theme songs. Under his watch, there is no genre of music that goes unnoticed, no mode of musical expression that goes unconsidered. As Monteiro moves ahead, processing and synthesizing those styles, compressing them into a volume of knowledge and filtering them through his own impressive sensibility, we will have to reckon with an incredible talent. That talent kicks into overdrive here, on MM4. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |