Tata Monk

Alex De Grassi | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 11, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tropo Records
• ASIN: B00004XR51
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,552 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > World Music > South & Central America > Bolivia
  • #9 in Music > World Music > South & Central America > Chile
  • #27 in Music > World Music > South & Central America > Andes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cutting-edge sound has a great new flavor, September 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tata Monk (Audio CD)

When I first heard this CD, I put it on with the intention of listening to it while going about the apartment. But after listening to only the first few minutes of the first track I couldn't bring myself to do anything else but listen--this music is GREAT!!!

Alex De Grassi and Quique Cruz have done an exceptional job at combining two very interesting yet complex types of music--jazz and andean rythms. The result is a wonderfully interesting and powerful new sound that gave me a new appreciation of what jazz can sound like.

At a time when there are so many new music fusions, especially with jazz, this album is truly at the forefront, leading the way for other music of this genre to follow.

I am a college student and have played this CD for my friends who loved it as well, but I also brought it home for the weekend and played it for my parents--they're big Alex De Grassi fans. They were surprised as it was not what they expected from De Grassi, but were very enthusiastic about the new sound--they had never heard anything like it!

I encourage anyone who wants to stay on top of the ever-changing jazz frontier to buy this CD, and also for those who just want to hear something new--you can't go wrong with this album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Coriolis Force in Full Effect, October 4, 2000

By 

Bob Biz (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tata Monk (Audio CD)

I've been a long time fan of Alex de Grassi's guitar work and was quite intrigued to check out this new collaboration with Chilean instrumentalist Quique Cruz. Tatamonk, of course, finds de Grassi in top form but, much to my surprise, is also filled with a whole array of exotic Andean instruments such as charangos, kenas, kenachos, antara, toyos, ronroco, rondador and sikus. Piano, bass, drums and brass compliment all of these instruments and the results are scintillating! This CD has a whole array of soundscapes from "Auscencia" which incorporates a breathtaking melody to "Alba" which has a smoky bluesy feel to it to "Sanchaly" which is a tour de force that unites traditional South American rhythms with contemporary jazz improvisation. All in all, Tatamonk is a tasty fusion of North meets South.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Andes got the blues, October 1, 2001

By 

Georgina Brown (British West Indies) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tata Monk (Audio CD)

The first thing I thought when I first listened to this CD was that I couldn't decide whether it was transporting me to a cool smoked filled jazz club somewhere in New York or to the fresh pungent mists of the Andes and then I realized that it was actually taking me both places at once! What a trip!
I think that in this CD one could find so many different moods and so many different atmospheres, the joy of the fiesta as well as the quiet melancholy of the days gone by, the rush of a flight over the highest peaks as well as the peace of just being still and allowing oneself to be embraced by music...and what music! The old and the new, tradition and innovation greet each other in the perfect blend, in which the whisper of a flute marries the tingle of a jazz piano and everything just sounds totally new and totally unique!
I feel privileged to have been allowed to enter the mystical world of Mr. De Grassi and Mr. Cruz!