Monkey House (band)

• Comment: Please see musical notability guidelines and explain which notability criterion this band meets, with a reliable source. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:04, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

Mr. McClenon, I believe I have already met at least a couple criteria: 1) {Item 2 Criteria for Musicians and Ensembles}: Has had a single or album on any country's national music chart. I have referenced Billboard chart position 24 on Jazz Chartt, as well as a separate reference to iTunes chart positions....{Item 5 states}: Has released two or more albums on a major record label. Monkey House has released six albums, most notably the last two on Alma Records Ncmtman77 (talk) 05:33, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

Alma Records has a licensing deal with the Universal Music Group, more specifically, called UMusic in Canada (http://www.umusic.ca/labels/). Also see this reference (http://www.umusic.ca/ ... see bottom of that page that shows Universal Music Canada). This licensing deal allows any album on Alma Records to be distributed and promoted by the Universal Music Group, a major label worldwide. Ncmtman77 (talk) 17:51, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

Also, the very first item on the above-referenced 'musical notability guidelines' has also been met, which states "Has been the subject of multiple, non-trivial, published works appearing in sources that are reliable, not self-published, and are independent of the musician or ensemble itself". I have met this criteria as well. Please see the references from independent sources. I can provide more if necessary. Ncmtman77 (talk) 18:06, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

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Monkey House is the name of a musical group founded by Don Breithaupt, a Canadian-born pianist, singer/songwriter, composer, arranger, producer and author. The group got its name from a 1970 book by Kurt Vonnegut. The band formed in 1992, which Breithaupt said started as the songs he had written seemed too jazzy or different for other bands to cover. A number of guest artists have contributed songs and have performed on their most recent two albums, including Drew Zingg, Elliott Randall, Michael Leonhart, and Jay Graydon. Breithaupt has revealed that Steely Dan is one of his biggest influences. The band makes melodic pop with a sophisticated, jazzy twist, with some fine horn arrangements. The latest release sports a five-piece horn section.

Their debut album Welcome to the Club was released in 1992, on the Aquarius label, based in Canada. It included a cover of a song written by Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan) called "Lazy Nina", which was covered by Greg Phillinganes in 1984, but never recorded by Fagen himself.

Their second album True Winter, on the Marigold label, released in 1998, found Breithaupt collaborating with Little Feat’s Richie Hayward and David Blamires of the Pat Metheny Group.

Then, in 2005 the compilation album entitled Big Money: Singles Remasters Rarities 1992-2005 was released. It contained thirteen tracks from the first two Monkey House albums, plus four fresh tracks including the single "Tough Love". Guests included Kevin Breit (Norah Jones), Mark Kelso (Gino Vannelli), as well as Hayward and Blamires..

Their fourth album entitled Headquarters was released in 2012, on the Alma Records label. This album reached a much wider audience, receiving great reviews and much airplay on jazz, pop, Adult Album Alternative, Adult Contemporary, and Smooth Jazz radio and on the internet. Guest artists included Canadian guitar heroes Kim Mitchell and Rik Emmett, as well as Drew Zingg and Michael Leonhart.

An album anthology entitled Retrospective was released in 2013, which includes almost everything Monkey House released over their first two decades, and more. In addition to tunes from their first three albums, the 44-song anthology includes previously unreleased material like "I'm Not That Guy" from the Headquarters sessions, five instrumental tracks and some interviews.

A much anticipated sixth album was released in June 2016, entitled Left. The title is derived from the fact that Breithaupt packed up and moved from Toronto to the west coast, or "left coast", arriving in the Los Angeles area by late 2012. The core group of musicians on the album are drummer Mark Kelso, bassist Pat Kilbride, and guitarist Justin Abedin, with Breithaupt contributing on keyboards, and bassist Peter Cardinali guesting on one track. Their previous album, 2012's Headquarters, was an album that made believers out of some internationally renowned musicians, who wanted to then participate on the new album. Besides Elliott Randall and Jay Graydon, other guests include backing vocalists David Blamires (Pat Metheny Group) Lucy Woodward (Snarky Puppy) on backing vocals, William Sperandei on trumpet, and saxophonist Donny McCaslin, who played on David Bowie’s final album. Drew Zingg and Michael Leonhart also return to contribute solos. The album debuted at number 9 on the iTunes U.S. Jazz chart, number 2 on the iTunes Canada jazz chart, and peaked at Number 24 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart

Discography

• Welcome to the Club (Aquarius / EMI, 1992)
• True Winter (Marigold / Koch Records, 1998 )
• Big Money: Singles Remasters Rarities 1992-2005 (GDM, 2005)
• Headquarters (Alma / Universal, 2012)
• Retrospective (GDM, 2013)
• Left (Alma / Universal, 2016)