Amanda Monaco 4

Intention

Innova 667

1. Intention 6:45

2. Resolution Lift 5:25

3. Tel Aviv I Love Her 6:30

4. Procrastination 4:21

5. Old Skool Flava 6:18

6. Deadlines Looming 5:39

7. Deception 7:03

8. My Man Stan 4:18

Total: 46:19

Amanda Monaco:

guitar

Jason Gillenwater:

tenor saxophone, clarinet

Fraser Hollins:

acoustic bass

Jeff Davis:

Drums

Amanda Monaco 4 formed in late September 2001. Despite the horrors of September 11, it was one of those idyllic times where the whole band lived in the same neighborhood; I had a huge apartment in Harlem with a drum set and jazz-loving neighbors, one of whom would turn off her radio every time we rehearsed so she could listen. We played every Thursday afternoon, with a trip to the local greasy spoon, Floridita, afterwards for chicken with rice and beans and café con leche. We kept this up for months, making our first recording in March 2002, and continuing until Fraser moved to Canada that summer. Upon his return (but after we had all moved to different neighborhoods and my apartment became smaller, with no drum set) we still played frequently and toured. We recorded this CD in December 2005 after getting off the road.

The songs on this recording come from a variety of different sources, situations, and emotions.

Intention was written around a specific idea coupled with a composing technique I like to use – taking one note and harmonizing it myriad ways; the idea is the E minor progression at both the beginning of the piece and the end of the A section. I began writing Intention in a little music hut in the woods at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Banff, Canada.

Resolution Lift, written by Jason Gillenwater, was originally a duo piece for saxophone and drums, but after playing it a few times in rehearsal, and discovering that it fit well in the quartet setting, it became part of the repertoire of the band. It is a melody with no harmony attached to it, allowing the piece to move in any direction that the ensemble is hearing at any given moment. We’ve played it many different ways, from all-out noise to fast swing throughout.

Tel Aviv I Love Her is the second of my middle-eastern-sounding compositions with cheesy titles. It’s a slow, sexy rhumba, with a few little rhythmic twists. It ends on the same note as Procrastination begins on...

Procrastination is just that – originally the second page of Intention, but somehow misplaced in a pile of papers that is my music office, this song went largely untouched for a long time. I procrastinated finishing it for so long that eventually I ended up with two slightly separate versions, both of which were played simultaneously in the studio (bass had one version, saxophone the other.)

When I’m not playing with my own quartet, I play guitar and sing in an all-female quartet called The Lascivious Biddies. Old Skool Flava was written for its lead singer, a vivacious, hot-blooded young firebrand from Texas who is equal parts chanteuse, honky-tonk queen and hip hop diva. It’s not your typical hip-hop ditty, considering that the first theme fluctuates between 4/4 and 5/4 time.

Deadlines Looming was written a week before the quartet went on tour and made this recording. It was also written during a football game where the Green Bay Packers were losing (again) and were running out of time to redeem themselves. I was also really pushing the deadline for getting one more song recorded, so anxiety was in the air.

I wrote Deception after being informed that I was to vacate my room in a three-bedroom loft in Brooklyn a mere three days after moving in. It’s a composition that flows back and forth between 5/4 and 4/4, with a few bars of 3/4 thrown in for good measure.

Like other songs I’ve written, My Man Stan is a classic example of what do you when you’ve procrastinated to the point of having to throw something together quickly. It was November 26, 2003, my grandfather’s 90th birthday, and somehow I forgot to shop for a gift for him, so I sat down at my mother’s kitchen table and wrote this song in twenty minutes. It’s a ballad, very tonal, meant to be sweet.

Acknowledgements:

Many thanks to my family, friends, husband, and all of my teachers. This CD is dedicated to the memory of Domenic Monaco (1948-2006), the best dad ever, the funniest and wisest man I’ve ever known, and the type of guy who would try to give everyone a bear hug all at the same time.

All compositions by Amanda Monaco (Santella Music,

SESAC) except Resolution Lift (Jason Gillenwater).

Amanda Monaco plays Brian Moore Guitars.

Recorded December 11, 2005, Bennett Studios,

Englewood, NJ. Engineer: Brian Dozoretz

Cover art by Lydia Booz

Innova Director: Philip Blackburn

Operations Manager: Chris Campbell

Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation. Supported in part by a grant from the New York State Music Fund.