Monkey House formed in 1992, performing songs that Don Breithaupt had written that seemed too jazzy or different for other bands to cover, with a major influence of his being Steely Dan. The band makes melodic pop with a sophisticated, jazzy twist, some with horn arrangements. Their debut album 'Welcome To The Club' was released in 1992 on the Aquarius label, and it included a cover of a song written by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan called 'Lazy Nina", which was covered by Greg Phillinganes in 1984, but never recorded by Fagen himself. Their second album 'True Winter', appeared on the Marigold label in 1998, and found Breithaupt collaborating with Little Feat's Richie Hayward and David Blamires of the Pat Metheny Group. The project fell mostly dormant during the 2000's, with a 2005 compilation, 'Big Money: Singles Remasters Rarities 1992-2005', serving as their lone release of the decade. In the meantime, Breithaupt continued to work as a songwriter, session man, and with his brother, fellow songwriter Jeff. When Breithaupt revived Monkey House in 2012, it was with plenty of vigour and energy as he and bandmates Pat Kilbride (bass) and Mark Kelso (drums) enlisted a full horn section and a colorful cast of guests including Rik Emmett (Triumph), Drew Zingg (Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs), and Michael Leonhart (Steely Dan) to help out on their third album. Titled 'Headquarters', it was their first outing for Universal Music Group's Alma Records imprint, and Monkey House began to work more steadily, earning a more widespread international following with subsequent releases like 2016's 'Left' and 2019's 'Friday'. The title of 'Left' was a reference to the fact that Breithaupt packed up and moved from Toronto to the west coast, or "left coast", arriving in the Los Angeles area by February 2013. The album debuted at number 9 on the iTunes U.S. Jazz chart, number 2 on the iTunes Canada jazz chart, and peaked at Number 24 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart, despite it really being a pop music album. In 2022, the band marked their 30th Anniversary with the release of 'Remember The Audio', and , it featured contributions by trumpeter Randy Brecker and others. Monkey House returned in May 2025 with 'Crashbox', featuring the single 'Someplace On Madison', which marked the group's last album with Zingg, who died in April, 2025, at age 68. If you don't know the band but have a fondness for the work of Steely Dan then it is definitely worth checking out this sampler of some of their best material.
Track listing
01 North (from 'True Winter' 1999)
02 10,000 Hours (from 'Friday' 2019)
03 Where's Mantis Evar (from 'Headquarters' 2011)
04 Good To Live (from 'Left' 2016)
05 Remember The Audio (from 'Remember The Audio' 2022)
06 Road Movie (from 'True Winter' 1999)
07 Welcome To The Rest Of The World (from 'Friday' 2019)
08 The Future Is Almost Gone (from 'Remember The Audio' 2022)
09 Someplace On Madison (from 'Crashbox' 2025)
10 It's Already Dark In New York' (from 'Left' 2016)
11 Island Off The Coast Of America (from 'Friday' 2019)
12 New York Owes You Nothing (from 'Remember The Audio' 2022)
13 Faith In The Middle (from 'Headquarters' 2011)
14 North (Reprise) (from 'True Winter' 1999)
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