Monday Michiru Corner

[Jim Alfredson]

You know what.

Yeah, that's an incredibly sexy video, but it's not the sleazy sexuality of a ho' trying to get your money by workin' dat laffy taffy.

I never said it was sleazy, I was just ragging on Joe a little bit.

It's a sign of these wrong times that appreciating feminine beauty and sensuality is automatically assumed to be a sign of lustful horny desires. Any man (or woman) who can't differentiate between the two has some growing to do.

There are so many things I could say to this, but I'm just going to let it go. I was making a joke, hence the little "sly" smiley at the top of the post. Criminey.

[JSngry]

Ok. I thought/hoped you were, but you & I both know that the point remains valid. Read back over this thread & there's a comment or two implying that enthusiasm for this artist is based first & foremost on simple glandular appeal, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

We both have daughters, Jim (mine's a lot older than yours, 17, but still...), & I'm ashamed but willing to admit that my own attitudes towards feminine sensuality were a lot more coarse than I realized. It took having a daughter & seeing her have to deal with the realities of male immaturity to wake me up to that. So that's the spirit in which the above comments were made - that "what a beautiful woman" & "god what a babe, I'd love to fuck the shit out of her" should in no way be considered different ways of expressing the same feelings.

[Joe G]

Your "little joke" was quite lame.

[jazzbo]

Thanks I needed that.

[JSngry]

Monday Michiru Newsletter

Happy Chinese New Year!

So I couldn't make a newsletter for the January 1 new

year, but at least I made it for the Chinese new year!

I trust everyone is starting 2007 well and staying

healthy.

Some very exciting news with projects that I would

like to share with you:

NEW PROJECT WITH ARTISTSHARE!! -- It has been

incredibly busy for me this last month and half,

unfortunately doing a lot of mundane computer work,

writing, and tedious administrative stuff, but all for

the love and purpose of finally launching my new

project with ArtistShare. The project name is "Flow"

and I am very excited about the concept, creative

potential and just really getting in there and sinking

my teeth into it. It will be launching before the end

of the month alongside a facelift for my website --

please check out www.mondaymichiru.com for more on the

"Flow" project and what I am planning for it.

LIVE AT SOBs, March 4 (Sunday) -- After a series of

tours in Japan much of 2006, I am happy to finally be

able to do a live here in my home state, New York, and

SOBs is the place! Our 4th time there, we have a

great band lined up for our Release and Launch Live:

My husband of course on trumpet and flugelhorn, Hans

Glawischnig on bass, George Colligan (who we went to

Indonesia and Japan with recently) on keyboards, and

Masanori Amakura on drums. Masa is actually living in

Japan and I began working with him last July and he is

BAD! (...you know that means GOOD "bad.") He planned

his vacation to New York and I couldn't resist putting

together the SOBs live to coincide with his trip here.

SOBs (Sons of Brazil)

204 Varick Street at West Houston

(212) 243-4940

www.sobs.com

8:00 p.m.

$17 if you buy ahead, $20 at the door

Jephte Guillaume of Body & Soul will be spinning that

night

"ALTERNATE ROUTES" Remix EP-CD Release! -- Gosh, can

you handle all this new stuff?! This is what I've

been destroying my eye sight and giving up my social

life for! Yes, it's finally out, a compact EP of 6

tracks: 5 remixes and 1 original track. Already some

of the tracks are creating a buzz in the underground,

namely the one of "The Right Time" remixed by Jephte

Guillaume (who will also be spinning at SOBs on March

4). This CD is available exclusively through my

website as part of the new "Flow" project under

various packages.

ETC -- In an effort to keep this one short, I won't go

through the zillion other pots I've had my hands in

and focus instead on the other exciting things coming

up: A covers album which I'll begin recording soon

for Geneon in Japan due for release in July; and

several collaborations on my husband's upcoming

ArtistShare release due out the end of May. As for

lives, I'll be going to Japan for an event that

Starbucks is doing in Marunouchi of Tokyo on March 13,

14 & 15 -- 2 sets each day; I'll be performing with

guitarist Naohiko Higuchi-san. There's also talks of

a tour in Japan during the summer as well as a

possible live in NY again in June, and as things firm

up I'll definitely keep you in the loop.

****

On a different subject, I want to congratulate

trumpeter/composer/arranger Brian Lynch for his Grammy

win on his ArtistShare release "Simpatico"! Brian

played for years in my mother's big band, and also did

collaborations, arrangements and playing on my albums

in the past, so I feel like a family member has won!

Keep yourselves warm, healthy and happy!

Peace,

Monday Michiru

[Jim Alfredson]

So I've been listening to this comp that Joe made me of Monday. The music is cool, I like it. I just cannot get with her voice. I'm sorry. I'll keep trying, but something about it really bugs me.

[J Larsen]

I've been meaning to check out Monday's music. I'll probably go to that show. It's a lot cheaper than buying one of her CDs.

[J Larsen]

Well, I went to the show tonight. The band hadn't played together before (she had to ask the bassist for his last name as she was introducing him on stage), and it really showed. For much of the set, they weren't hanging together at all. There is loose, which can work, and muddy, which can't. This was the later (for most, but not all of the set). I may be off base on this, but IMO it didn't help that they were playing over a tape of backing vocals and synth string sounds. The tape can't push and pull like the drummer and bassist can to adjust.

Also, and it may have just been an off night, but her voice was very thin live - not at all like the scattered fragmentary samples I've heard online. She did make a subtle passing reference to not feeling so good about her throat.

That being said, even with the rough edges I could tell that there were some interesting ideas in the music. They played a couple songs that were very influenced by Bitches Brew.

Oh yeah - she is even better looking in person. No lie. She seems like a bit of a geek, too -- I don't mean that in a bad way, she is just a little awkward in her movements and says things like "golly" and "gee willickers" without a trace of irony. I sort of liked the contrast between her looks, high fashion and dorkiness.

[JSngry]

She seems like a bit of a geek, too -- I don't mean that in a bad way, she is just a little awkward in her movements and says things like "golly" and "gee willickers" without a trace of irony. I sort of liked the contrast between her looks, high fashion and dorkiness.

You know, I've gotten somewhat the same impression, although "geek" is not the word I'd use. She just seems to be so natural about who/all that she is, and that entails being a bit of a musical geek (ok, I said it ) as well as a really hip person. That she doesn't seem to even attempt to cover one up at the expense of the other is what makes her such an inspiring figure to me, and that carries over into her music, how she can put seemingly irreconcilable elements together in a way that ends up seeming inevitable and natural (and really, they should be). It's the way most of us really are, if we're honest with ourselves, and a lot of us try to be one "thing" instead of just going ahead and letting it all be. We're "afraid" of one or more of the "conflicting elements" that we see inside us and try to stifle what really doesn't need to be stifled. That usually leads to all kinds of inner conflicts, and so on and so on, blah blah blah. Let's just say that it's this level of "personal comfort" that she has & projects that has inspired me even more than her music.

Sorry to hear that the band wasn't all it could/should be. It's gotta be tough not having a working unit together to play what is some difficult music. Working w/tapes just ups the ante. Good players can get into a groove playing like that, but it takes time to adjust and to grow into. There's some shows from a few years ago available from Artist Share of her with a working band that had played together for a while (but w/o the tapes) and this group had gelled like a mofo, especially Dave Kikoski, whose work w/Monday is, I think, the best he's done to date.

But yeah, it's tough music to begin with, and she doesn't seem to feel the need to recreate the arrangements from the records live, so having an under-rehearsed band is living waaaay close to the edge. But you gotta go for it if that's all there is...

And btw - having seen the tour footage that comes as a bonus from Artist Share, I can tell you that "golly" and "gee willickers" are not the extent of her expressive vocabulary. Monday can curse, and pretty damn well too!

[JohnJ]

Oh yeah - she is even better looking in person. No lie. She seems like a bit of a geek, too -- I don't mean that in a bad way, she is just a little awkward in her movements and says things like "golly" and "gee willickers" without a trace of irony. I sort of liked the contrast between her looks, high fashion and dorkiness.

Monday was part of a crowd I used to hang out with in the early 90's and she certainly never struck me as geeky. She was always very friendly and approachable though, not to mention one of the most beautiful women I have ever met.

[J Larsen]

Don't forget that I'm a physicist. If anybody knows their geeks, it's me!

[ValerieB]

Yes, it is a beautiful thing. Monday is my hero. She's gorgeous, vibrant, full of life and creative energy and then some. And she's over 40.

As she says on her myspace page, she is " a nice ripe age" but feels she is "still an egg just getting ready to hatch."

Couldn't say it better for myself...

ditto to everything said! she is truly an amazing, incredibly well-rounded woman (and i don't mean her body!!) she is a person who can do it all as far as i can see. she excels in SO many things. still want to sample some of her gourmet cooking before i leave this earth!

[JSngry]

The new artistShare project is underway: http://www.artistshare.com/artist_project_...amp;selection=1

Also, the Alternate Routes remix EP (6 cuts, including one new piece, over 45 minutes worth of music altogether) is now available, and comes highly recommended. Out of the 6 cuts, there's only one that to my mind/ears doesn't offere up a substantially different & invigorating reinterpretation of the original. There's remixes that are essentially "functional", and then there's remixes that are creative musical works in and of themselves. These firmly fall into the latter category, and whoever Yellowtail, Jephte Guillaume & Part Time Heroes are, they're some baaaad muthaphukkas. Any of their work could have been released as the original versions and you'd not suspect that they were anything but, that the performances were designed & built that way from the git-go, and that these were works of contemporary dance music of the highest level. That they're remixes attests to both their talents of the remixers and to the quality of the original material

Tracklisting for Alternate Routes:

1. Hung Up (PTH Sprung Up Mix) - pretty much keeps the original form, but revamps the rhythm tracks

2. The Right Time (Yellowtail remix) - A mindfuck for me. Takes the original, which stretched boundaries that I didn't even know I had, and turns it into a nastyhot broken beat jam. It's a case of putting back together rather than taking apart, the opposite of many remixes, and damn does it work.

3. Don't (CASAMENA Backyard Mix) - Doesn't work for me. The original is one of my most favorite of all of Monday's works, and this one is basically taking the "jungle beat" from one part of it, running it all the way through, and putting the rest of the song on top (or more accurately, inside) that repeated beat. Much is lost, although now you can dance all the way through it. But...

4. You Don't Know (Monday Michiru featuring Part Time Heroes) - a new original. Very strong melody (replete with fanfare-ish horn parts), unconventional changes, a bit of broken beat, and lyrics that demand attention. Connoiseurs of old-school B-sides will recognize this as one of those things that come out of nowhere, hit you upside the head for a few minutes and then float away into the ether to become "cult classics".

5. Philosophy Road (PTH Hideout Mix) - Psychedelic house. Can't say that it "improves" on the original, but it certainly takes it somewhere else entirely, to a place that is very much to my liking. The vocal comes ut more, and Sipiagin's trumpet is changed from solo to running commentary. Very nice.

6. The Right Time (Jepthe's Tet Kole Mix) - A 13:53 super mindfuck, especially if you know the original. Sets up a nasty samba/house thing and doesn't let go of it for even one second. Words are kind of failing me on this one, but suffice it to say that the world needs music like this more than ever, and that the world ain't getting it without having to go digging for it in the uber-enderground is a big sign of why the world is what it is today.

You can dance to this disc, or you can listen to it. It works splendidly either way.

Or you can do both. That works even better.

[jazzbo]

Thanks for the headsup amigo. I ordered cd copies of both the remix and Flow. (Ah, the title so reminds me of Flora's little thang!)

[JSngry]

Thanks for the headsup amigo. I ordered cd copies of both the remix and Flow. (Ah, the title so reminds me of Flora's little thang!)

Since you're deeply familiar (and well-pleased) with Routes I think you'll be well-pleased with Alternate Routes, perhaps even more than well-pleased!

[jazzbo]

Most likely, yes.

I'll probably download each as soon as I can. . .probably before hard copies hit me.

Have you checked out the "live Routes" stuff? Am I going to be really excited!

[JSngry]

The live Routes DVD was included in the package level I purchased, and it's fine. It's a three-piece band (Sipiagin, Henry Hey, & drummer/percussionist Genta) + Monday, with tapes & sequencing(?) added as needed. To see how they do this stuff live is a real eye-opener, and as you might expect, the arrangements are not straight record copies. It's a real treat all the way around.

Edit to add that if by "excited" you mean by Monday's stage presence, etc. well, yeah, maybe. She seems to be really focusing on keeping her pitch together and sometimes I get the feeling that that's inhibiting her "extroversion". I give her fullest props for putting musicality before show. But between songs, and occasionally during them, yeah, it's the same free-spirited, joyous, slightly goofy (in the best possible way) Monday that we love.

Edited April 7, 2007 by JSngry

[jazzbo]

Hmmm. . . I should have looked at a level that included that dvd, been interested in checking it out. . . and haven't seen anywhere but Jap;an where it's for sale, was hoping she'd offer it. . .maybe she does, I'll look closer.

I guess I meant excited by the music on the live cuts promised on my level (haven't gone there looking for them yet). I could dig hearing that material live and if it's "together" it would be exciting.

Thanks!

[JSngry]

I guess I meant excited by the music on the live cuts promised on my level (haven't gone there looking for them yet). I could dig hearing that material live and if it's "together" it would be exciting.

Well, as far as the DVD goes, I can tell you that if Henry Hey is no Dave Kikowski in this environment, he still brings more to the table than indicated on the studio stuff and that it is more than "just" good, that Sipiagin's playing is precise, consise, and loaded with content, and that Genta has some sort of magical, impish, gnomish quality in his playing that brings out the best in everybody, especially Monday.

As for the other live material, I've not yet gone looking for it either. But I bought in at a level that I know it will be there when I do, and I trust that it will be just fine.

[jazzbo]

Listening to the Alternate Routes right now (via downloaded tracks). PRETTY COOL!

I'll seek out those live tracks soon. . . haven't found them yet. Don't think Flow is ready yet either. . . .

Thanks for the info about the dvd. I'll keep on the lookout for a decently priced copy.

Ah. . . it's a good Easter.

Edited April 7, 2007 by jazzbo

[JSngry]

Flow isn't even in production yet. ETA is 3-31-08. But there's already some journals and a lead sheet up & available.

[jazzbo]

Ah. . .I misread that as 3/31/07 and thought "Man, I really missed on this!"

Cool. A LONG wait ahead of us!

[JSngry]

The ultimate preorder!

[jazzbo]

Jim, listening to the Right Time remix for about the eight time right now. This one really does deliver. My favorite of the remixes!

Also, there's a sprout of a new Monday thread over at AAJ.

[Joe G]

I'm pretty much with Jim on this album. I think I prefer the second Right Time remix to the broken beat one. Seems to me that the harmonies work better, and the tenor solo has the maximum rhythmic intensity there. I played along with it for about 20 minutes this evening. Still totally grooving on the Philosphy Road remix, too.