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| Monte Procopio: ’A Swingin' Time’ Monte Procopio grew up in a small coal-mining town Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania with a population of around 10, 000. Those small town values surfaced in Monte at an early age and he grew up with a love and respect for the great singers such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Nat King Cole. Today he displays his love of the past through his own music by interpreting the classics through two exceptional studio albums. In 2004, Swingin' With Style was released and it was well received by critics and listeners alike. This month the highly anticipated follow up to that recording is set for release. A Swingin' Time continues to give the nod to the past greats as Monte covers timeless classics such as All Or Nothing At All, The Very Thought Of You, That Old Black Magic, Fly Me To The Moon, Route 66, and many others that will spark old memories and bring a smile to your heart. Monte has received rave revues for his performances and has performed with Alan King, Vikki Carr, Phyllis Diller, and others. As his musical resume and experience grew, he reached a level of maturity as a performer that is unmistakably spot on with A Swingin' Time. Following a suggestion from Clarke Rigsby his producer on Swingin' With Style, Monte met with Grammy Award winning arranger Robert (Bob) M. Freedman and was able to get Bob to sign on for the A Swingin' Time project. After assembling an outstanding line up of musicians as he did for the first release, everything fell into place and Monte, Clarke, and Bob proceeded to record the new release. A 13-piece band is a featured component in each of the tracks and the arrangements are very distinctive. The musicianship is beyond reproach on all of these tracks and A Swingin' Time is certain to put Monte Procopio on the map and inject new life into the timeless classics covered on the release. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |