js All that modern abstract cutting edge cerebral jazz is cool and all, but sometimes you want to hear something that might inspire more of an extroverted party vibe, and that’s where an album like “Jazz-Blues Brothers” comes in. The Jazz Blues Brothers are Jeremy Monteiro on piano and Alberto Marsico on organ, two super hot blues and jazz keyboardists who really deserve more press and recognition than they currently receive. No less than Joey DeFrancesco has described Marsico as one of his favorite organ players. The rest of the band is top notch as well with Eugene Pao supplying rapid jagged bebop and fusion lines on the guitar, and also going full on rock star on a couple tunes as well. Shawn Letts is the required funky tenor player that is essential for soul jazz outings and Shawn Kelley holds down the groove on the drums. Powerhouse blues vocalist Miz Dee Longwood also joins for “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” and “I’d Rather Go Blind”, both recorded live with the band.

So many good tracks on here, “Opening Act” sets the mood with a classic hard bop swing and “Olympia” follows with some funky RnB. “Mount Olive” sounds like classic Eddie Harris and “Catastrophy” is rapid bebop that lets everyone show off their high speed chops. As mentioned already, there are also a couple of blues vocal numbers too. The real draw for this album though is the skill of the players. Marsico is easily one of the very hottest B3 players around, and Monteiro has a massive piano attack that recalls past masters like Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. Add to that, Guitarist Eugene Pao, whose fiery guitarisms bring much to this soulful affair.

js The newest installment in my ongoing attempt to feature incredibly talented musicians you may have never heard of goes to veteran pianist Jeremy Monteiro. In the West his talent may be somewhat of a secret to many, but in his homeland of Singapore he is well known, having garnered their top artistic recognition when he received the Cultural Medallion. Getting back to the US scene, back in the 80s Jeremy replaced Ramsey Lewis in his trio with Eldee Young and Redd Holt to become Monteiro, Young and Holt. Back in the day, Young and Holt took Jeremy to the African American congregational church and the powerful emotions of that music have stayed with Jeremy for his entire career. Jeremy’s latest album, “Live at No Black Tie”, is of course a live album recorded at the Malaysian club mentioned in the title and features Jay Anderson on bass and Lewis Nash on drums.

Monteiro’s playing is a force of nature, his ability to take the piano from a soft whisper to a thunderous roar in a split second is admirable, so also is his ability to turn individual songs into suite like extravaganzas full of interesting twists and turns. Jeremy’s playing is rooted in older pianists who used the keyboard in a more orchestral approach. He cites Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson as influences, and it shows, I also hear a lot of Art Tatum and McCoy Tyner as well. Although Jeremy displays his interest in the bop virtuosos, his playing is hardly old fashioned as he is hip to any of today’s tonalities or modern jagged rhythms which he uses liberally in his solo workouts. As mentioned earlier, all of these songs are lengthy and feature unpredictable arrangements in which any of the three musicians might solo or duet at any time. We have all seen the boring club band that features the exact same rotation of solos on every song, there is none of that on “No Black Tie”. Some songs might open with a bass solo, while others might feature a rhythm solo after a piano solo, only to have the piano return and play another solo with a very different feeling.

There is a nice variety of music on “No Black Tie”, a couple modal jams, several ballads, two gospel flavored soul jazz numbers and plenty of swinging hard bop. Jeremy includes a couple of well known standards and balances that with his originals which all sound somewhat familiar.