monkey

There are more than one musical act that use the name Monkey.

1. A 'third wave ska' band from San Francisco, CA., United States
2. A collaboration of Chinese actor and director Chen Shi-Zheng (???) and Gorillaz artists, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett

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1. Monkey is a third wave ska band from the San Francisco Bay Area of California, formed in summ/er 1996. Current band members include Curtis Meacham (guitar, vocals), Donelle Cory (bass), Micah Turney (drums), Dustin James (keyboard, trombone), Dan Root (tenor and baritone saxophone), and Brian Lockrem (trumpet, backup vocals).

Musical influences include Skatalites, Toots & The Maytals, Desmond Dekker, and Elvis Costello. rocksteady and ska dominate their sound, while elements of rock, rockabilly, Latin, and soul music are also present. As of 2007, the band was signedwith Asian Man Records, also based in the Bay Area.

Monkey has released four albums as of 2009. The first two were independently released, and the others were released by Asian Man Records. Their debut album ¡Changito! has sold over 6,000 copies, without any record label support or distribution, and was listed as San Jose's Best Independent Release for 1998. The band has had songs on over 20 international compilation releases, has had music on a PlayStation soundtrack, and has had songs added to independent film soundtracks, including the Russ Meyer tribute “Pervert the Movie” on Stag Films.

Monkey has toured the United States over 10 times, as well as touring Canada and parts of Mexico, bringing the band's big beat, horn-driven, dancehall sound to people all over the continent. The band has typically performed between 150 and 200 concerts per year. As of 2007, Monkey was performing concerts in several parts of California, namely its home, the Bay Area.

Monkey has earned several nominations and awards, including the California Music Award (Bammie 1999). Monkey continued touring internationally and releasing records on labels like Deluxe Entertainment and Asian Man Records long after the fall of third wave ska. They have recently finished their first overseas tour, which took place in the United Kingdom. It is believed that there have been at least 30 different members since the band was initially formed.

2. 'Monkey: Journey to the West' is a 2008 stage adaptation of a 16th century Chinese novel by Wu Cheng'en. The stage adaptation, an 'opera' of sorts, was conceived and created by the Chinese actor and director Chen Shi-Zheng (???) together with the British musician Damon Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz fame) and British artist Jamie Hewlett (also of Gorillaz).

An album based on the opera score and sung in Mandarin was released on XL records in the UK on August 18, 2008. Although the album was not officially credited to an artist named Monkey, and its creators didn't use Monkey as a 'band name', it has become common practice to refer to the album as Journey To The West by Monkey.

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