MONTY ALEXANDER CHANGES COLORS

Monty Alexander Monty Strikes Again Live In Germany MPS CD 1974 2007

Monty Alexander: Chameleon
From Monty Strikes Again (MPS, 1976)

I was recently flipping through a bin of LPs I’ve pulled aside to sell but given that this bin has gotten rather ancient, I’ve forgotten what the deal is with some of the records therein. That includes this Monty Alexander album that I began to needle drop, only to remind myself: oh yeah, this is the one that had this quirky acoustic piano cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.”

In contrast to electric piano flips on acoustic jazz standards, this, to me, goes the other way: taking a song best known in its electronic incarnation and then recreating it acoustically.

On the funky tip, this isn’t about to take out Hancock’s clarinet or anything but I do like hearing songs in one context flipped into another.