Monk Competition

Mingus Fingus · #1 09-05-2009, 12:35 PM

Anybody around these parts send a tape in for the Monk Competition? I remember someone saying it was bass over the summer and I forgot about it until now. I think we are going to see a pretty heavy lineup for the semi-finals in October. DC is pretty close to Baltimore, so I'm thinking of going to check it out.

http://monkinstitute.org/

Mingus Fingus · #2 09-23-2009, 11:25 AM

Really trying to get down for the semi-finals. This is going to be some competition:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=43020
Semi Finalists:

David Baron, West Hartford, Conn.
Matt Brewer, Oklahoma City, Okla. (!)
Shawn Conley, Nu'uanu, Hawaii (this years ISB winner)
Adam Cote, Poughquag, N.Y.
Corcoran Holt, Washington, D.C.
Daryl Johns, the Bronx, N.Y.
Raviv Markovitz, Lexington, Mass.
Ben Meigners, New York, N.Y.
Linda Oh, Australia
Harish Raghavan, North Brook, Ill.
Jorge Roeder, Lima, Peru (2007 ISB winner)
Ruben Samama, The Netherlands
Joe Sanders, Milwaukee, Wis.
Clemes van der Feen, The Netherlands
Ben Williams, Washington, D.C. (2005 ISB winner)

milomo · #3 09-23-2009, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mingus Fingus

Really trying to get down for the semi-finals. This is going to be some competition:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=43020
Semi Finalists:

David Baron, West Hartford, Conn.
Matt Brewer, Oklahoma City, Okla. (!)
Shawn Conley, Nu'uanu, Hawaii (this years ISB winner)
Adam Cote, Poughquag, N.Y.
Corcoran Holt, Washington, D.C.
Daryl Johns, the Bronx, N.Y.
Raviv Markovitz, Lexington, Mass.
Ben Meigners, New York, N.Y.
Linda Oh, Australia
Harish Raghavan, North Brook, Ill.
Jorge Roeder, Lima, Peru (2007 ISB winner)
Ruben Samama, The Netherlands
Joe Sanders, Milwaukee, Wis.
Clemes van der Feen, The Netherlands
Ben Williams, Washington, D.C. (2005 ISB winner)

Daryl is something like 12 or 13 years old (he's the son of the great NY drummer Steve Johns), and he can already really play, and not just for a 13 year old either.

bribass · #4 09-23-2009, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milomo

Daryl is something like 12 or 13 years old (he's the son of the great NY drummer Steve Johns), and he can already really play, and not just for a 13 year old either.

He's just 13. Steve & his family are good friends. Daryl is great kid and a player way beyond his years. A young player to watch to be sure and he lives in good ol' NJ, not the Bronx.

milomo · #5 09-23-2009, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bribass

He's just 13. Steve & his family are good friends. Daryl is great kid and a player way beyond his years. A young player to watch to be sure and he lives in good ol' NJ, not the Bronx.

Yeah, he's sat in on my bass a few of times, and he sounded good for his age (which was practically single digits), but then the last time, a few months ago, he just sounded good, period. And that's with medium high guts with no amp, which is definitely not his setup. And those cities must be birthplaces/hometowns because more than half of those people live in New York or Jersey.

bribass · #6 09-23-2009, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milomo

Those cities must be birthplaces/hometowns because more than half of those people live in New York or Jersey.

right, they did live in Riverdale before NJ.

shwashwa · #7 09-25-2009, 01:21 AM

man i wish i knew about this before. im assuming its too late to enter now eh?

bassssab38 · #8 09-28-2009, 06:19 PM

who do you think will win?

Mingus Fingus · #9 09-28-2009, 11:56 PM

With the level that I've heard (of the players I'm familiar with) in this competition, it could be anybody's day. Also depends what the judges are looking for...I don't know that anyone will run away with it. Should be great to check out though.

wineaux · #10 09-30-2009, 09:56 AM

Mrs. Wineaux and I are going to the finals/gala concert on the 11th. I'm going to try to get to the semis as well. Then I can go home and contemplate why I didn't start playing at 15 instead of waiting until 51!!!

Mingus Fingus · #11 10-10-2009, 03:37 PM

Didn't actually make it to the competition today, but heard that the three finalists (to finish tomorrow) are Matt Brewer, Ben Williams, and Joe Sanders. Anyone going to finals?

Kevin Hsieh · #12 10-10-2009, 06:30 PM

the 3 most deserving in my honest opinion. i'm a huge fan of all three of them. this could go either way now.

Mingus Fingus · #13 10-10-2009, 08:57 PM

some friends who were there said that jorge really deserved to advance as well. but yes, could go either way with the three finalists.

Kevin Hsieh · #14 10-10-2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mingus Fingus

some friends who were there said that jorge really deserved to advance as well. but yes, could go either way with the three finalists.

yea i love jorge as well. he plays with a few of my friends

wineaux · #15 10-10-2009, 10:05 PM

I'll be there. Can't wait!

Warmed up tonight by going to the Kennedy Center to hear Dave Holland.

Wow! Just wow! I'm gonna chop my bass into toothpicks

Kevin Hsieh · #16 10-11-2009, 08:37 PM

so word is ben williams won first.

any idea who placed second and third?

wineaux · #17 10-11-2009, 10:14 PM

Ben did, indeed, finish first. Joe Sanders was second and Matt Brewer was third. All three performances were top-notch. I thought Matt had the most even performance, but Ben and Joe both nailed incredible solos. Joe even had the courage to do a bowed intro to his instrumental number.

The gala concert that followed, marking Blue Note's 70th anniversary, is something I'll be talking about as long as I'm alive. My personal highlights included great work by McCoy Tyner, Nicholas Payton and Bobby McFerrin. And one of the night's biggest ovations was for Butch Warren, who was in the audience.

But the gold-medal moment came when Ron Carter was playing bass. In the middle of a Payton solo, the end pin of the bass he was playing (not his own) started to slip. As the bass went lower and lower, RC bent lower and lower and never missed a note. Eventually a tech came out and extended the pin -- with Ron playing straight through. Incredible moment. Incredible show.

PaulChambersFan · #18 10-26-2009, 03:48 PM

wineaux,
Can you tell us something about the perfomences? What songs did they play? How were they arranged? etc etc???

wineaux · #19 10-27-2009, 12:07 PM

Each finalist performed an instrumental and a standard, with DeeDee Bridgewater singing.

Ben chose "Tricotism" and "Caravan," on which he and Dee Dee sounded like they have been playing together for years.

Joe Sanders performed "Foggy Day" and "Benny's Tune," while Matt Brewer played "All Blues" and an original composition (I didn't catch its name.

Here's Ben from that night, courtesy of NPR's jazz blog:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsuprem...mpetition.html

msw · #20 10-27-2009, 12:39 PM

The clips on the NPR website are unbelievable. I really recommend checking them out. Also, Ben Williams is using a New Standard Cleveland! Thank you for posting.