Jealous Monk
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Jealous Monk

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Band Hip Hop Funk

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"The Dragon's Den (435 Esplanade) 6.10.08"

Then, It was upstairs to check out one of the best live hip-hop acts in town, Jealous Monk. The band was on fire, with bassist Kenny Caine keeping the grooves pulsating with energy. DJ JQ was all over the stage alternately rapping and cutting up the tables. I just can't say enough good things about the main MC, who goes by the name Intelligence. He freestyles better than almost anyone in town. He takes everything around him at the moment and puts it into his raps. That is no easy task, especially when most of their tunes are rolling along at about 98 to 110 beats per minute. Jealous Monk has a CD coming out soon and I have heard some of the preliminary cuts. It is smoking hot, so listen up.
- NEworleans.com


"Featured Artist: Jermaine Quiz of Jealous Monk"

KOD: As a child, what were your first musical experiences?

JQ: My dad is from Sou th America, so I grew up hearing Chileno music, Brazilian music, and lots of stuff like that...I heard a lot of Sergio Mendez and Celia Cruz. My parents also listened to classic rock and motown. The first music that really captured me though, was H ip -Hop. At eleven, I started to DJ. It was funny, I had some broke ass tuntables wi th a Jazzy Jeff Mixer and a tape deck. The tape deck is the funniest part! Anyway, I experimented wi th that stuff by myself for years. I taught myself how to overdub tracks, how to make beats. I've done it all...I am a true student of h ip hop.. Mcing , DJing , breakdancing , grafitti , beatboxing . You know in New Jersey, everyone does H ip -Hop, and there were always competitions, there were lots of break dancers and H ip -Hop crews.

The next music to capture me was live music, New Orleans Music. Going to school in New Orleans at Loyola, I got to really check it out.

KOD: Where did the name Jealous Monk come from and how did you get started?

JQ: It comes from a Bob Dylan tune, "Desolation Row". At the time, i t felt like new orleans was desolation row. The lyrics go like this, "Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood. With his memories in a trunk / Passed this way an hour ago / With his friend, a Jealous Monk / He looked so immaculately frightful / As he bummed a cigarette / Then he went off sniffing drainpipes / And reciting the alphabet / Now you would not think to look at him / But he was famous long ago / For playing the electric violin / On Desolation Row"

Jealous Monk didn't start till after Katrina. For one of our first gigs, we played a trailer park that a lot of storm victims were in. It was out in Plaquemines Parish. We did a bunch of benefits for victims and kids, you know.

KOD: Yeah, After Katrina I did a ton of Benefit concerts myself. How did you get the band together?

JQ: You know New Orleans, there is no shortage of great musicians. At Loyola I met Kyle ( Sharamataro , the drummer for the band) and Intelligence. Intelligence (the Main MC of the Band) was working at Loyola and we ended up hanging out, after he saw me wi th the guitar player from my first band - he asked if I was a musician, and it was just a natural fit . Pete Murano , one of our guitarists, who also plays guitar wi th Trombone Shorty's band, was at Loyola too, and we got to talking and as we narrowed it down, it turned out that at different times in our lives, we lived on the same street in the same town in New Jersey, we even had some friends in common, but we didn't meet until we were at Loyola. Dave Hyman, who I met through Kyle, has been the main Guitar player wi th the band for a long time.

The Bass player has changed a lot. For a while, it was Judd Nealson, who plays organ, and he just played bass wi th his left hand. Kenny Caine (from Russell Batiste's Band) has been wi th us a lot lately, He holds it down, you know. Kirk Joseph and Eddie Christmas also play with us some times. You got to put down that you also play with us too...

The List is too long to name everyone who played with us. We'd be here until the place closed trying to list 'em all. W e like a semi rotating roster because it keeps it fresh and really interesting

KOD: What else have you been doing recently?

jealousmonk_logo.jpg JQ: F inishing a Jealous Monk album called Sun Up to Moon Down that I am also producing..I am very excited about it..We have been working really hard. It'll be released at the end of August and will be available on iTunes , Rhapsody, and at the Mushroom, just to name a few places. We are in talks with agencies so that we can bring this music to the world. I have been playing some wi th Russell Batiste's band and Kirk Joseph' s Backyard Groove. Russell is just a mad Genius! I am going to play wi th him this Thursday at the Maple Leaf. Also, on Friday, I will be wi th Kirk at Tip's , and of course, the Kevin O'Day Birthday Jam at the Dragon's Den Saturday Night, July 26 th !

KOD: I can't wait! To sum it up, what is Jealous Monk all about?

JQ: I was thinking about how I got started here the other day, making a list of all the people I sat in wi th , and it was just huge man. I don't think that would happen anywhere else. Kirk Joseph really encouraged me. I have to give it up to Johnny V - you know he encouraged me a lot, also George Porter Jr. The other day, I showed up at his Running Partners gig, and he's calling me up on stage, getting the mic ready for me, I was like, "holy $h#* man this is amazing" - I think they like me because I always bring it when they call me up. H ip -Hop is a worldwide phenomenon now, I mean, could you believe that they didn't think it was going to last? Now anyone 40 and under has grown up wi th h ip- hop. The art form is constantly progressing and I feel that the live band element, especially in New Orleans, is the next forum which will take h ip- hop higher than it has ever been before. To sum it up, Jealous Monk is for continuing the live music tradition in New Orleans for the younger people who know Hip-Hop, but don't know the Funk/Live scene. Really, we just play good music man. - NEworleans.com


Discography

Sun Up To Moon Down (2009)

Photos

Bio

Formed in the wake of Katrina, Jealous Monk has quickly gained recognition as one of New Orleans premiere musical acts. Don�t be fooled by their young age; they have the sense to listen to those who came before and incorporate those lessons into their music. Bridging elements of raw underground hip-hop and gritty New Orleans funk, and merging wisdom from predecessors with their youthful hope for the future, Jealous Monk is a brand of sound unlike any other.

"Jealous Monk draws on second line beats and funky chops of Uptown New Orleans and blends them with the native art-form of South Bronx to create a combination of funk and hip-hop that is all their own. Made up of turntables, microphones, and one of the funkiest live bands in town, Jealous Monk has created a new brand of NOLA music that's all their own." -Stuart Raper (90.7 FM WWOZ On-Air personality)

"Jealous Monk recaptures the lost spirit of hip-hop...Funkiest hip-hop I've heard in a long time" -Alex McConduit (CrecsentCityRadio.com)

The IdeaPrior the group's inception, front man Jermaine Quiz began hitting the stage at local music venues, joining such musicians as Johnny Vidacovich and "The Trio," trying to inspire a movement of true hip-hop enthusiasts with a soft spot for funk. The idea was to lyrically freestyle to an improvised soundtrack of live music, with the outcome being a fresh and inspiring new sound of musical taste. This idea was heard and embraced by eager music fans all around the city of New Orleans. It evokes the New Orleans tradition of bringing history into new forms of expression. In this case, the history is the roots of hip hop and funk, and the new expression is what would become Jealous Monk�

The Return: Coming back after Katrina, Quiz wasted no time in continuing his goal of bringing live hip-hop to the New Orleans music scene. This was achieved in part through collaborations with major New Orleans players such as George Porter Jr, Ivan Neville, June Yamagishi, Russel Batiste, Kirk Joseph, Walter "Wolfman" Washington and Big Sam. Quiz not only held his own among these forefathers of funk, but commanded the stage with his masterful hip-hop style in his performances, and the crowds took notice. This was not just another kid trying to mimic the legends, but rather a student who was respectfully discussing the philosophy of funk with his professors, offering new insight and iterations.

�When JQ gets up on stage he's ready to play. He already has listened to everything that�s going on around him. He's figured out exactly how to be part of the collective thing that is being spontaneously improvised. He has a keen, beautiful, psychic way of knowing what�s going to happen by listening intuitively to what�s going on around him and makes the lyrical improvisation become part of the collective process. Jermaine knows exactly how to phrase in the manner of the music which he is totally involved with making. When it�s all going down, JQ's without a doubt- he came to play.� �Johnny Vidacovich

The Monk Today, Jealous Monk consists of a monastery of young and older faces from the New Orleans music scene, all committed to the fusion of live funk and hip-hop and even more so the resurrection of the city of New Orleans. The revolving roster includes MC/DJ Jermaine Quiz (Kirk Josephs Backyard Groove, Russell Batiste and Friends), MC Intelligence, Pete Murano on guitar (Trombone Shorty�s Orleans Avenue), Dave Hyman(Gov't Magik) on guitar, Brazilian Keyboardist Eduardo Tozzato Kyle2020 on drums (GoodGuys),and the world famous founding member of Dirty Dozen Brass Band- Kirk Joseph- on Sousaphone. Part of what makes Jealous Monk�s sound unique is the continuously evolving line-up of special guest musicians who play with them. Not only is their sound unlike anyone else�s, but they never sound the same twice. Each show is a unique experience, and the performance is always fresh because there�s always new blood, and a different combination of performers. The trick is that they play with only the finest musicians, so that the quality is always consistent, and the brotherhood of the band remains.

Since Katrina, Jealous Monk has played countless shows all around the city in venues such as Tipitinas, Maple Leaf, Dragons Den and Blue Nile, as well as various FEMA trailer parks for recovery benefits. As his name might imply, MC Intelligence likes to impart knowledge, and he has even taught hip-hop lessons at New Orleans public schools when not rocking the crowds at night or winning MC battles around the city. Though they have had the opportunity to play with some of the biggest names in the region, they haven�t lost sight of the importance their mission, which includes rebuilding their city.

The Album--The long awaited debut album from Jealous Monk is set to hit the shelves in early April of this year. Entitled "Sun Up To Moon Down," the album encompasses an all-star lineup of well-produced songs, each of