Joining the ranks of legends

SINGAPORE'S "King of Swing", Jeremy Monteiro, has hit all the right notes over the last three decades to get to where he is; and he has notched up another high with his latest album, Jazz-Blues Brothers, coming out on the prestigious and iconic Verve label.

On top of being the first local artist to have that honour, the release also puts the former Cultural Medallion winner in the ranks of other Verve legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie and Billie Holiday.

Jazz-Blues Brothers, which hit stores in mid-September, is a collaboration with Alberto Marsico, whom the 54-year-old played with at last year's Jazz Organ Summit shows.

To think the album almost didn't happen, if not for Marsico - inspired by the chemistry he shared with the local jazz maestro on-stage - shooing him straight into the studio to capture the spark from the concert tour.

"We spent only two days recording... As our tour engineer said: 'It's as if you and Alberto had been playing together for years because you keep finishing each other's musical sentences'," chuckles Monteiro, who adds the process was quickened because the rhythm section was already familiar with the material.

To celebrate the launch of Jazz-Blues Brothers, the pair will reunite onstage on Friday and Saturday to play songs off the album with an all-star band comprising guitarist Eugene Pao, saxophonist Shawn Letts, drummer Shawn Kelley, and guest vocalist Rani Singam. The show will then hit the road and travel to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Shanghai and Hong Kong in October.

The prolific Monteiro, who has lost count of the number of recorded works he has released to date - but puts the figure conservatively in the mid-30s region, excluding a handful of unreleased ones that will remain in the vault because he's not happy with them - says he has never been this productive since 2004, where he released a whopping five albums in one year.

"How do you stop an artist during such a period of creativity and output?" jests the multi-instrumentalist and composer, who has come a long way from watching his policeman father play jazz guitar as a little boy before being inspired to take up the keyboards and going on to rule the local jazz scene through the decades by being a regular fixture on the "live" circuit.

He has also been an local ambassador for the genre, taking his music overseas frequently, including Europe where he would have played four times just this year alone.

Monteiro's illustrious career has also seen him performing and recording with other jazz bigwigs like James Moody, Michael Brecker, Lee Ritenour, Ernie Watts and Charlie Haden.

But it was the strength of the material with Marsico on Jazz-Blues Brothers that gave him the confidence to ask his cousin, Sandy Monteiro, president of Universal Music South East Asia, to approach Verve to release it under their label.

Forget accusations of nepotism though because none was involved - "Sandy was even harder to please because he's my cousin!" claims Monteiro. "He had some issues about the mix which I felt the same about but didn't articulate so I went back to get it remixed again before submitting it."

Monteiro's attention to sonic details has made him a favourite amongst audiophiles with his critically-acclaimed high-definition recordings being released on various international and regional labels including his own Jazznote.

As expected, he's not resting on his laurels even after this album tour as he prepares to play the main stage of the London Jazz Festival in November, before getting ready for the release of a Christmas album and his regular year-end festive concert.

That's not counting the fact that the upcoming shows with Marsico might even yield a sequel to Jazz-Blues Brothers. "He's already started nagging about the next one," laughs Monteiro, who is also trying to find time to squeeze in a trip to Bali where he's recently opened a music bar. "But there's less resistance now!"

dylantan@sph.com.sg

@DylanTanSYBT

Jeremy Monteiro & Alberto Marsico with The Jazz-Blues Brothers and guest vocalist Rani Singam play The Star Terrace on Friday and Saturday, at 8pm. Standard tickets at S$35 available from Sistic and at the venue