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Sophisticated musicianship, imaginative lyrics, and a flair for melody are signatures of the sound of Monkey House, a sound that has earned the group serious critical acclaim, peer respect, and a steadily expanding international following.

Those characteristics are again evident on ''Friday'', on ALMA Records. It is the fifth full-length release from the L.A./Toronto combo that has just celebrated the notable milestone of 25 years of playing together.

Adding to the comfort level in the studio for the recording of Friday was the return of the team of co-producer Peter Cardinali and engineer John 'Beetle' Bailey, reprising their roles from previous Monkey House records. Cardinali also plays bass on four tracks.

All but two of the tracks on Friday are solo Don Breithaupt compositions. "Book Of Liars", is a cover of a song by Steely Dan's Walter Becker. "As a lifelong Steely Dan fan, Walter's death hit me hard," says Don. "I thought it'd be a nice gesture to do one of his."

This generous 12-song collection sounds cohesive, while possessing enough musical twists and turns to keep things interesting.

As has become the norm on MH records, Friday features some notable guests. Guitarist Drew Zingg (Boz Scaggs) and trumpeter Michael Leonhart (Steely Dan) have guested on previous albums and make tasteful contributions here, as does François D'Amours (Gino Vannelli), and Snarky Puppy guitarist Mark Lettieri. Ground Up artist Lucy Woodward (Rod Stewart) adds background vocals throughout, while famed vocal quartet The Manhattan Transfer add their magic to the choruses of ''The Jazz Life.'' It's hard to mistake the sound of those four incredible voices together."

Don notes, ''I have a tradition of having at least one poppy, quirky, outlier track on an album. This time, it's '(I Wanna Ride) Shotgun,' which is designed to be fun and funky and stick in people's heads.'' It's a tune as warm and breezy as a Malibu drive in a vintage convertible.

Track Listing

Bonus Materials

• Music video directed by Oscar-winning producer, Miles Dale (The Shape Of Water)
• Recorded, mixed and mastered in ultra hi-resolution 24bit / 192kHz, 180-gram vinyl, Double LP mastered at half-speed
• Bonus track, “Echo Park Blues” available only on LP release

Sales Points

• • Regular multiple posting and videos on all platforms throughout the life of project
• • Releasing 3 singles (one per month – 4/26, 5/31, 6/28) leading up to album release on July 26
• • Monkey House pays homage to Walter Becker with the single 'Book Of Liars' a Steely Dan cover
• • Monkey House is a critically acclaimed band with a huge following around the world. With YouTube plays in the tens of thousands, there are many die hard fans looking forward to this release
• • Servicing all key jazz publications, full national and regional press including online portals, blogs and websites
• • Serving to college, commercial radio, Smooth Jazz, Rock radio and NPR
• • Worldwide touring summer 2019 through 2020
• • Double LP mastered at half-speed, DMM, 45 RPM, 180-gram audiophile virgin vinyl
• • Strong marketing team with emphasis on social media marketing campaigns geo-targeted to major USA markets
• • For fans of Steely Dan, Snarky Puppy, The Police, Tower of Power, Chicago, Boz Skaggs, Michael McDonald, Stevie Wonder, Michael Franks, Gino Vannelli, The Manhattan Transfer, vocal pop/jazz, singer songwriters, horn sections, great soloists
• • Recorded, mixed and mastered in ultra hi-res 24bit-192kHz resolution

Press Quotes

'A stunning album, a stone classic! Knuckle-knotting chord progressions and majestic horn charts...'

     —Barney Hurley, West Coast Magazine

'Lovely pop melodies beefed up with complex horns -- for lovers of musically and lyrically sophisticated pop music.'

     —Cashbox

'There's only one comparison really, and that's Steely Dan. This is sophisticated, supple, funky, and smart tunes, heavy on the horns, backing vocals, and slick solos, jazz ideas with a rock band in behind.'

     —Bob Mersereau, Bob Mersereau's top 100

'The Monkey House CD arrived today. On *continuous* play!'

     —Elliott Randall, Guitar God

'Scene-setting, storytelling and just old-fashioned lyric poetry - these are just some of the wonderful aspects of Monkey House'

     —Raul da Gama, The Whole Note

remind you a master is at work!'

     —Vickie Van Dyke, WAVE.FM

'Did I just list every song on the album as my favorites? Huh. How about that?...waiting in vain for these Canadians to tour rural East Texas.'

     —The CD Project