Tony Monaco / Fareed Haque Trio w/ Louis Tsamous Internationally-acclaimed Hammond B-3 organist & modern guitar virtuoso bring high-octane jazz trio to the Rubber City for BLU debut, featuring drummer extraordinaire, Louis Tsamous!

Mentored by the legendary Jimmy Smith in what is considered the more classic style, Monaco does not swing, smolder or smoke – “Tony Monaco burns is this most fitting!” (Critical Jazz Review 2012)
 
Columbus, OH-based jazz organist, Tony Monaco, released his debut album, “Burnin Grooves,” in 2001 (produced by fellow jazz organist sensation, Joey DeFrancesco) and has gone on to release eight additional recordings since then which have met international acclaim. He has toured and recorded with modern jazz guitar sensation, Pat Martino, and has also performed with the likes of jazz luminaries Mel Lewis, Lewis Nash, Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, Sonny Fortune, Jon Faddis, Adam Nussbaum, Bruce Forman, Harvey Mason, Chester Thompson (drummer), Herlin Riley, Matt Wilson, Jeff Clayton, Terrell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Late Bobby Durham, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, Paul Bollenback, Bruce Forman, Kevin Mahogany, & Victor Lewis. In addition to his performance accomplishments, Monaco has produced a series of instructional DVD’s on playing the jazz organ and continues to maintain a very busy schedule that includes festival appearances, clinics, and workshops.
 
For this special live appearance at BLU Jazz+, Monaco will be joined by Chicago-based modern guitar virtuoso, Fareed Haque!
 
Haque, a multi-faceted and accomplished jazz & classical guitarist, has worked with Paquito D’rivera, Dave Holland, Sting, Joe Henderson, Joe Zawinul, Cassandra Wilson, Kurt Elling, Lester Bowie, Arturo Sandoval, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Kahil el Zabar, Defunckt, Ramsey Lewis, Nigel Kennedy, Edgar Meyer, Robert Conant, Stephen Stubbs, Frank Bungarten, members of the Vermeer Quartet and many symphony orchestras in the U.S. and abroad.
 
This all-star trio is rounded out by drummer extraordinaire, Louis Tsamous, one of the most versatile and active musicians in America. Tsamous has toured Europe, Asia and the Caribbean and has recorded and performed with jazz artists Stanley Turrentine, Etta Jones, Jimmy McGriff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, David “Fathead” Newman, Joey DeFrancesco and Kevin Mahogany, to name a few.
 
Join us as we welcome this powerhouse group for a burnin’ evening of organ trio jazz! Two shows (7PM, 9:30PM), get tickets now!
 

About Tony Monaco

Tony Monaco began his keyboard life at age eight, on the accordion. When he was twelve, his destiny as a jazz organist was sealed when he first heard Jimmy Smith. An enthusiastic student, Tony began working in Jazz clubs as a teenager in his native Columbus, Ohio, guided by local organ gurus Hank Marr and Don Patterson. For further inspiration, he studiously absorbed the mastery of Jimmy McGriff, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Charles Earland, Jack McDuff, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. All would play a role in the development of his musical palette. On Tony’s sixteenth birthday, his prayers were answered. He received an encouraging phone call from Jimmy Smith, who soon became his Mentor/Teacher. Four years later, Jimmy Smith invited Tony to come play at his club in California–a peak lifetime experience for Tony.
 
From 1980 to 2006, Tony stood by his family businesses and married to have three daughters, while running Monaco’s Palace Italian restaurant for ten years while performing weekly in the lounge. Tony then entered the food brokerage industry peaking towards Torchbearer status with SYSCO foods. Always inspired by music, Tony then went to work as an assistant Broadcast producer for a prominent ad agency learning his production skills and playing gigs at night to continue supporting his family. After graduating from college with a B.S.B.A. from Franklin University in 1989, Tony’s occupation changed again to supervisor of Monaco Concrete ( “my Father needed a good manager and my daughters were getting close to going to college!”).
 
Tony now enjoys and concentrates in all his musical energies flourishing completely as he pursues his passions. In April 2000, Tony met fellow jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco, who offered to produce a debut CD for him. This collaboration resulted in the critically acclaimed “Burnin Grooves”. The international success of the recording served as the catalyst for regional and national tours.This success was followed by two more releases for Summit Records that received critical acclaim and significant sales, charting in the Jazzweek Top 10. In September 2003, Summit Records released “A New Generation”, a unique recording featuring both Tony’s and Joey DeFrancesco’s Trios. They recorded the project using two “Hammond-Suzuki New B3’s” as Tony was awarded a major endorsement role with Hammond and Suzuki. As Tony’s reputation has grown, he has been blessed to play with some of greatest musicians in jazz, including Mel Lewis, Lewis Nash, Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, Sonny Fortune, Jon Faddis, Adam Nussbaum, Bruce Forman, Harvey Mason, Chester Thompson (drummer) Herlin Riley, Matt Wilson, Jeff Clayton, Terrell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Late Bobby Durham, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, Paul Bollenback, Bruce Forman, Kevin Mahogany, Victor Lewis, Pat Martino, Fareed Haque and even George Benson.
 
An ardent student of the organ, it’s no surprise that Tony is an accomplished teacher as well. In addition to private students, classes and clinics, Tony has produced a series of instructional DVDs titled “Playing Jazz Hammond” that have quickly become indispensable for any serious student of the organ. Tony has decided to expand his catalogue and has created MotherHenMusicEd.com and now has a system of giving lessons one on one online to anyone from anywhere around the globe!
 
Presently, Tony maintains the busiest world touring schedule imaginable, including festival appearances ,clinics and workshops In 2007, Tony celebrated a special anniversary, celebrating 40 years as a musician and appearing on the cover of Keyboard Magazine. April 2012, Tony released “Celebration Life * Love * Music, a two disc set of all originals as he continues to Celebrate his Musical gifts and shares his gifts to everyone. Tony’s drive as an innovator and missionary continues to carry forward his passion for the Hammond Organ. Now Executive Producer of the Summit Records subsidiary Chicken Coup Records, he has recorded and released CDs for several undiscovered organists around the globe, and his role as educator has allowed him to spread and cultivate many new hopefuls to the art of the jazz organ.
 
Tony continues his mission to raise awareness and appreciation of jazz organ and its importance in genres as diverse as traditional Gospel, RnB and Modern Jazz. He is now Hammond/Suzuki’s prime instrument endorser worldwide. Tony has recently ended nearly two and a half years playing world tours with Pat Martino as he resumes his personal playing and teaching ambitions. He has begun expanding his educational series to include other organist and styles with his new MotherHenMusicEd.Com. He is formulating new strategies and record deals using his network through Chicken Coup Records to help himself and his peers and students advance in this ever changing music market and utilize new technologies and markets. Tony is a vital source of musical experience, knowledge and humility – ready, willing and able!
 

About Fareed Haque

Guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque enjoys a career that spans the spectrum of musical styles. Moving easily between jazz and classical guitar, Fareed’s versatility has created a demand for him with prominent jazz and classical artists including Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Holland, Sting, Joe Henderson, Joe Zawinul, Javon Jackson, Cassandra Wilson, Kurt Elling, Lester Bowie, Arturo Sandoval, Robert Walter, Karl Denson, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Kahil el Zabar, Defunckt, Ramsey Lewis, Nigel Kennedy, Edgar Meyer, Robert Conant, , Stephen Stubbs, Frank Bungarten, members of the Vermeer Quartet and many symphony orchestras in the U.S. and abroad. He has performed all of the major guitar concertos, is an active transcriber of baroque as well as South American music and has had numerous modern works dedicated to him.
 
Fareed has also released seven recordings as a leader: Voices Rising and Manresa on Sting’s Pangaea label, and Sacred Addiction, Opaque, and Deja Vu, on the prestigious Bluenote label, as well as Singh Song, available on Haven Records. His most recent, the critically acclaimed Cosmic Hug is available on Magnatude Records.
 
Haque has been featured on WTTW’s ArtBeat, Ben Sidran’s New Visions, Michelob Presents Sunday Night with David Sanborn on NBC, his own Lonesome Pines special for PBS, and on BET cable jazz channel. Fareed has twice been selected Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in Downbeat magazine. In 1989, Fareed joined the faculty of Northern Illinois University, where he currently holds an associate professorship in jazz and classical guitar studies.
 
Born in 1963 to Pakistani father and Chilean mother, extensive travels, especially long stays in Spain, France, Iran, Pakistan and Chile, exposed Haque to different musics from a very early age. This natural eclecticism has become the hallmark of Fareed’s music. The 1981 Recipient of North Texas State University’s Jazz Guitar Scholarship, Haque spent a year studying with renowned jazz guitarist and pedagogue Jack Peterson. Fareed’s growing interest in the classical guitar led him to transfer to Northwestern University, where he completed his studies in classical guitar under David Buch, John Holmquist and Anne Waller.
 
In 2001 Fareed co-founded the jam super-group Garaj Mahal, joined George Brooks’ group Summit, featuring Zakir Hussein and Steve Smith and continues to record and tour with the Fareed Haque Group. More recently Fareed has become a staple of the ‘Jamband’ scene and was voted ‘Most Valuable Player’ at the 2002 High Sierra Music Festival.
 
In 2004 Fareed composed and performed his Lahara Double Concerto for Sitar/Guitar and Tabla. The work was premiered by The Chicago Sinfonietta, under the baton of maestro Paul Freeman, at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, featuring tabla virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain, to whom the work is dedicated. In 2006 Fareed was commissioned to compose a classical guitar concerto for the Fulcrum Point Ensemble. His Gamelan Concerto was premiered in May of ’06 at The Harris Theatre in Millenium Park.
 
In 2007 Haque continues to tour, record and compose, extensively. He has recorded a new CD with legendary jazz organist Mel Rhyne, has appeared at numerous guitar festivals with duo partners Goran Ivanovic and Frank Bungarten, and will premiere his newest classical guitar composition, Pyramids, for The Chicago Latin American Composers series at Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago. Haque was nominated for a Chicago Music Award in late 2007. He also continues to co-lead Garaj Mahal; the jam/jazz/world music group won an Independent Music Award in 07. Both Haque and Garaj Mahal are signed to Owl Studios.
 

About Louis Tsamous

Louis Tsamous grew up in Cambridge, OH and began playing the drums at age 10. He has since become one of the most versatile and active musicians in America. He has toured Europe, Asia and the Caribbean and has recorded and performed with jazz artists Stanley Turrentine, Etta Jones, Jimmy McGriff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, David “Fathead” Newman, Joey DeFrancesco and Kevin Mahogany among others.
 
He played in the Ohio State University Jazz Ensemble while a student at OSU and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982.
 
In addition to performing with various groups in the Midwest, Louis has done clinics at many high schools and universities across the country. Louis has been touring and recording with jazz organ sensation Tony Monaco since 1999 and is featured on six national releases on The Summit record label.
 
Louis has recently toured the United States and Europe with jazz guitar legend, Pat Martino.
 

 
Join us as we welcome this powerhouse group for a burnin’ evening of organ trio jazz! Two shows (7PM, 9:30PM), get tickets now!

$20