The Steel Guitar Forum

Monk-y Tonk!

This is another for my upcoming recording of all Monk tunes for steel guitar. This one is a lot of fun, IMO. Again, this is my cast aluminum Clinesmith, which I am LOVING!

https://soundcloud.com/ionahoopii/bye-ya-demo-mike-neer

I always look forward to these posts. Sounds great. Mike, what are you using as the "back up band"?

Nate Hofer wrote:I always look forward to these posts. Sounds great. Mike, what are you using as the "back up band"?

Me on bass and steel, and drum loops from my fairly extensive library, simply imported into my DAW.

This one took about 30 minutes to come together.

WOW.....outstanding playing Mike. Right in the pocket, really swings.

Nice arrangement... well done!

Enjoyed it, as always.
Thanks for sharing.

Cool! I never heard that Monk tune before. You (and the new Clinesmith) sound great.

Great music, Mike!

Sounds great Mike...one of my favorite Monk tunes!

BTW, how do your Clinesmiths sound overdriven? (or is that sacrilegious to ask?)

Very nice!

Steve Cunningham wrote:Sounds great Mike...one of my favorite Monk tunes!

BTW, how do your Clinesmiths sound overdriven? (or is that sacrilegious to ask?)

Steve, they all sound amazing with overdrive, fuzz, whatever! I use a Digitech RP1000 and get many killer sounds. But I'm digging clean tones these days a lot.

That Beck tribute record I did last year has a great OD sound, if I do say so myself.

That explains the tireless drummer, and no wonder I dig the bass player, he knows where you're going with it.

This one has a nice nightclub feel to it. Digging it the most.
The segue into 'Well You Needn't' on SoundCloud is also cool. These are going to make a nice suite.

Sounds great as usual Mike. Keep it up.

wow, that's really great! The steel guitar sound, with the sustain and slides, really adds to this tune. Or maybe this tune accommodates the steel. Anyway, I like it.

great solo, too!

Great job Mike. Keep 'em coming!

Mike that is just too cool. Great work!

Very nice!

That was great - thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the nice comments and most of all thanks for listening.

My first exposure to the music of Thelonious Monk was an LP that was released in the 80s, called That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk, with diverse artists as NRBQ, Todd Rundgren and many others. I had forgotten all about it until recently. I knew I wanted to make a recording of Monk's music, but I am tired of trying to adapt steel guitar to fit into a jazz quartet type of setting. I really want to celebrate steel guitar and all its quirks and not sound stiff.

As an avid student of Monk's music, I can't help but think he is one of the most misunderstood musicians I can think of. People expect that his music is avant-garde and far out when really it is deeply entrenched in blues and stride and the history of music. He was a Janus-faced composer with deeps roots and a modern approach (at the time). His compositions will live forever.

I just started hearing Monk's music in different ways. I don't want to force it, though; it has to come naturally. I have a bunch of other arrangements, but this will be the last one I post until the record is done, probably a year from now.

Great job, Mike....I really enjoyed this...

Billy