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Time for some Monkey Humor...

A man walks into a Music City Pet Store looking to buy a monkey. The store owner points towards three identical looking monkeys in politically correct, animal-friendly natural mini-habitats.

"The one on the left costs $500," says the store owner. "Why so much?" asks the customer. "Because it can write and arrange for small combos and groups up to 16 pieces," answers the store owner.

The customer inquires about the next monkey and is told, "That one costs $1500.  It knows Jazz and Classical music. He can improvise or play technically difficult solos."

The startled man then asks about the third monkey. "That one costs $3,000," answers the store owner. "3,000 dollars!!" exclaims the man. "What can that one do?" To which the owner replies, "To be honest, I've never seen it do a single thing, but it calls itself a Band Leader...

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As a group who has been blessed with some popularity in the S.Fla area you can only imagine how many familiar faces we run across in our daily activities. Part of the increased benefit to having the kind of exposure we get with the band is we get to not only encounter a lot of aquaintances and quality supportive fans of the band, but somewhere along the way, some of these aquaintances actually become personal close friends. Truely part of the Hot Brass Monkey Family.

It is with great heartfelt sadness that we must say good bye to one of the band's closest friends...Tom Altman (percusionist/vocalist/All around great person). Tom's passing came unexpectantly (seconary to heart complications) on the early morning of 10/19/03.

Tom for all those who had the absolute pleasure to know you and were in a position to call you friend (which there are many as a result of the type of person you were...) you are already missed greatly...This world is a colder place without you. Sherry and Andria our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with you for anything you might ever need. May God Bless you and help you through this very difficult time...

All of our Love in your direction

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What a treat it is to see old friends down south. (Hollywood Ft Laud) We had the great pleasure of playing to a large showing at Hollywood's 4th of July event and then again at Fort Lauderdale's Star Light Musical Outdoor concert event. Unfortunately the rain took us out mid 2nd set. So many old familiar faces came out to see the band... We'd love to see you more often and have made several attempts to get back into Hollywood Ohara's...Not as a steady night but as an occasional Monthly appearance or so...For what ever reason($$$) nothing has happened.  This is where you all can come in...We need a place down south...Contact Kitty Ryan at Ohara's (954) 524-1764 or (954) 925-2555...and let her know how much you'd like to see us back on the block again... They have Hollywood and Ft Lauderdale locations. Mango's Ft Lauderdale has at least gotten back to us to let us know that we are too large of a band for the room and placing us onto the dance floor creates too much of a liability for them. Makes sense to me... Any where else worthy of the Monkey Down South???Let me know via Email. So what else is happening??? New Bass Player in the Mix. Wayne Schifler is his name and what a fine person and player he is. Steve has given up his position for Greener pastures... No Smoking in the Club Scene has been great for us Horn Players and Musicians in general. I know it's a big adjustment for the smokers and the club owners however... for you non smokers who hardly went out because of the smoke...It's time to get out and make the difference in the club scene that the smokers have left to be filled. Business is definitely down which directly efx the live music scene... I don't think any of us want that to happen. Keep your eye on the Website for up coming improvements which include the Fan interaction area and video/sound clip additions alot of great comments related to the new site as it is...Monkey Merchandise is coming... until next time Swang Loose...Jodio

Post Our Las Vegas Ceasar's Palace Opening for Chicago

We did 6 days at the Sahara preceding our opening for Chicago. The Sahara was Dry...(Imagine that), Like a crowded club with a million Gambling critic freaks passing through...The Saturday night there was great but all other nights left a lot to be desired....We stopped playing clubs for the most part in S. Florida and what we found with the Sahara was that is was a glorified club...I thought it would be a good opportunity to be seen in Vegas by all area Main Event Venues...and it was however... the actual fun of the gig was as I said...Dry!!!.

The 1st night during sound check, looking forward to 8 consecutive dates, I went to sing a tune clearly in my range...Steely Dan's Josie...and when I opened my mouth to sing...Dust and gravel is about the only sound I could produce... Did you ever hear of something called Vegas Throat????Neither did I...SO I cut the sound check, ran to my room, bought a humidifier, shut down the ac, turned on the steam shower, throat losengered myself out, and proceeded to struggle for the 1st 3-4 nights while my body adjusted...The desert has away of wanting your body's moisture more than your body does...Very Dry...Maybe that had something to do with my weak impression of the place. Here I am in Vegas...Struggling through singing Citera's Stuff, Stevie Wonder, Doobies etc...all with this rocked out gravel edge down an octave...Yeah!!!! Rock on...Oh well nothing but frustration for most of us. We also had to transport all of our gear for the occasion at the Sahara which meant our guitar player was playing direct through the PA with some dink amp that had absolutely nothing to say...SO that was the Sahara...

Then came the 1st night at Ceasars for the President of the National Home Builder Association' s welcoming gala. 3 set evening very smooze/dinner in orientation until the last full blown party set...Full stage production with all Back line included, follow spots etc...After 6 days in Vegas we finally arrived...They had to hold us back a few times during the evening cause we were ready to play through some real gear ...Then at the end of that night they brought us into the next night's Chicago room to view the stage. Wow!!!! Huge stage that fit all of Chicago's backline behind us, full lights and sound etc...twice the stage we had just played...Sound check was amazing...The Sound and Lighting Union crew was the best!!! We played Make Me Smile (for sound Check) which is one of the older tunes of Chicago with Terry Kath singing the lead rich vocal. Darryl, our Front Singer sings it even richer than the original...They have Bill Champlin on the lead vocal now who is truly a great soulful singer/song writer however... Make me Smile is one of the tunes they continue to do that was done better originally...and Darryl cops the tune real close if not better than the original...The tune in general is a great mix of horns, vocal harmony, and lead vocal...a perfect sound check tune...We do it with 4 horns...richer harmonies...When we were finished the road crew from Chicago was silent as the waiters and such were very appreciative in their initial response to us...The Guitar tech later came up to me and said" You guys aren't really going to do that song are you??? Then after telling him that we were not permitted per contract to play any of the Chicago material that we do, and that Make Me Smile was just our usual sound check tune. His reply was " good, because that's what Chicago opens with...So we proceeded to play everything they wish they could play in the true classic horn tune vibe...All they get to play for the most part is Chicago...Chicago...Chicago...Not that that's a bad thing because as you know Chicago is one of my all time favorites. In fact HBM in many ways was patterned with them in mind to hit the Corporate aged folks with the solid blasts from the past...

SO... The night began with over 6500 people in attendance which for us is one of our larger indoor venues. Nobody knew who we were or who we weren't. All they knew is what we were doing, and they were as pumped and ready as we were. We played 2 sets...The second set people had positioned themselves for Chicago and we came out to the "real deal" concert scene with thousands of wide eyed people wanting to be blown away ...We knew they were really in place for Chicago, and who wouldn't be however...WE WORKED 'EM ANYWAY!!!

We were completely charged by the idea of opening in Ceasar's Palace Las Vegas in conjunction to opening for Chicago!!! We were like a smoldering fire given immediate oxygen supply(especially after our Sahara Experience...) BOOOOM! We exploded!!!! Can you say Back Draft?

To my disappointment... Chicago didn't...They just finished 4 nights at the Stardust down the street where they played to they're usual crowd of 20K plus each night. Then they did this little corporate date (The Ceasar's Gig) the night before they had to depart for Japan in the morning...So yeah, I understand the lack of enthusiasm on their part...After all they weren't the one's opening for Chicago... Several people actually left during their performance talking about Hot Brass Monkey...What a trip...

An awesome experience musically for us all...Also our families were with us and we all had a great family time in the process...I unfortunately was one of the few who got to actually meet the full band after the show. They again were in a rush however very polite...I got a few photos with them...Myself and Our Webmaster/Photographer Jim Donelly, had to seek out their dressing room. Top secret you know...Once the Kitchen staff lead us in the direction of where we found an off limits area, the security guard was kind enough to let me approach the dressing room ...The whole band would have never gotten through...SO Here I am in the aggressive hunt mode to open a banquet hotel room door to find Chicago changing and pissed off at me for invading the privacy...A memorable vision for me was Jimmy Pankow (Trombone/ Horn arranger dude) standing in his underwear looking at me with complete disgust saying..." Do You Mind!!!"??? oh well ...then the Tour Manager got in my face and asked me to leave. Fortunately we had already met and talked about the possibility of meeting the band so he knew who I was and wasn't too hard on me.... His reply to my original request was meeting the band was doubtful because they have to catch a flight to Japan in the AM...SO I had a name to drop to Jason Scheff (the Bassist/ Citera Replacement) We have a mutual friend bassist who knew Jason in San Diego Pre Chicago...SO I said Hey Jason.. Randy Ward Said Hello...His reply was " Randy Ward??? Hang out side the door for a minute and I'll be right out. Robert Lamm came out with him along with everyone else in different groupings except Bill Champlin....He had already Split... Jason related a vague recollection of who Randy was however he and the rest of the group..including Pankow were very kind and allowed some free time to talk and shoot a few memorable photos. Some of the other HBM members caught a few of the guys on their way out. The Guitarist Keith Howland was really the best...A Real humble, down to earth guy who hung out with some of us at the end of the evening...

SO that was the Experience..The coolest thing is what it did for the confidence of the band...We knew we were good and we knew our Chicago material was real authentic however ...we got to experience what we have today compared to what they have...We have often heard from fans that they had recently seen Chicago or BS&T reflecting  that what we are doing live with their material sounds better than what they are doing ...and that we look like we are having more fun than they are as well...We are...Our Horns and Vocal Harmonies are definitely up to par and the rhythm section was certainly in the same caliber of play quality except funkier...Now when we play, everyone is in the Microphone singing their part with real enthusiasm and the band is sounding better than ever... Looking forward to recording our 2nd CD Hot Brass Monkey Blows the Dust off of somebody Else's Greatest Hit Volume #2...Maybe some originals as well...

E-me...  Until next time God Bless and be Hang'n Loose... Jodio