Get Into the Act... "Three Monks"
You might call it lounge music for the twenty-first century. The Three Monks have a melodic sound that mixes instrumental solos with jazzy vocals. However, you are more likely to hear them do Stevie Wonder than Sinatra, or Pink Floyd instead of show tunes.
Vocalist Doug Hawk calls their music "soulful jazz, or borderline pop." Whether they are doing covers or one of their many originals, the trio offer songs that have more twists and turns than anything you will hear on the radio.
Keyboardist Dan DeChellis and drummer Rian Carr often take long stretches where they experiment with the melody, or even veer into free jazz. Then Hawk may scat sing, do vocal swoops, or change a standard by singing it in a minor key arrangement that makes it sound like a new composition.
“There’s a lot of open space in our songs,” says Hawk, who writes the lyrics. “We like to be in the moment and try to keep it fresh without sticking to things in a certain way.”
DeChellis, who writes the band’s music, has released twenty-one CDs on his Sachimay Records label, eight of which are his solo works or his collaborations with other artists. Carr is also the drummer for the group Spirit Island. Hawk sang with the group Rhino Campground, which has just played its last show at Bethlehem’s RiverFusion.
For their appearance at Mayfair, opening for the Blessed Union of Souls, the group will add guitarist Jake Heck and electric upright bassist Erik Unsworth. The trio plans to record a CD in the next few months.
Three Monks, May 29, Cabaret Central, 7 to 7:45 p.m., Mayfair Festival of the Arts, Cedar Beach Park, Allentown, free, Saturday, June 5, 9 p.m., WhichBrew Pub and Restaurant, 665 Northampton Street, Easton, no cover, band website at www.threemonks.net.
--Dave Howell, 5/04
(This article first appeared in The Morning Call newspaper.)
Vocalist Doug Hawk calls their music "soulful jazz, or borderline pop." Whether they are doing covers or one of their many originals, the trio offer songs that have more twists and turns than anything you will hear on the radio.
Keyboardist Dan DeChellis and drummer Rian Carr often take long stretches where they experiment with the melody, or even veer into free jazz. Then Hawk may scat sing, do vocal swoops, or change a standard by singing it in a minor key arrangement that makes it sound like a new composition.
“There’s a lot of open space in our songs,” says Hawk, who writes the lyrics. “We like to be in the moment and try to keep it fresh without sticking to things in a certain way.”
DeChellis, who writes the band’s music, has released twenty-one CDs on his Sachimay Records label, eight of which are his solo works or his collaborations with other artists. Carr is also the drummer for the group Spirit Island. Hawk sang with the group Rhino Campground, which has just played its last show at Bethlehem’s RiverFusion.
For their appearance at Mayfair, opening for the Blessed Union of Souls, the group will add guitarist Jake Heck and electric upright bassist Erik Unsworth. The trio plans to record a CD in the next few months.
Three Monks, May 29, Cabaret Central, 7 to 7:45 p.m., Mayfair Festival of the Arts, Cedar Beach Park, Allentown, free, Saturday, June 5, 9 p.m., WhichBrew Pub and Restaurant, 665 Northampton Street, Easton, no cover, band website at www.threemonks.net.
--Dave Howell, 5/04
(This article first appeared in The Morning Call newspaper.)