JOHN MENEGON (bass & compositions)
STEVE EINERSON (piano)
PETE SMITH (guitar)
MATT GARRITY (drums)
special guest ANGUS MENEGON (voice, synthesizers & compositions)

JOHN MENEGON (bass & compositions)
“New York bassist JOHN MENEGON is in the line of George Mraz and Michael Moore; a harmonically sophisticated bassist with technical facility who swings hard when it’s called for.” Kirk Silsbee, DOWNBEAT!
Menegon is a jazz bassist, but is also a guitarist, arranger, singer, and composer. He began his career as a musician in Montreal before moving to New York City, where he spent ten years as bassist for two legendary tenor saxophonists, Dewey Redman and David “Fathead” Newman. This experience provided a solid foundation for Menegon to continue his explorations as a bandleader, composer and arranger, and he has been composing and arranging music throughout his career. Menegon has released 6 recordings as a bandleader, and his latest recording, SOUND EMBRACE, was released in 2024 on Valley Jazz Records. It features Jean-Michel Pilc on piano, Chet Doxas on sax, and Jim Doxas on drums. Here is what Abe Goldstein had to say about John’s latest recording on his blog PAPATAMUS REDUX (NOV 2024): “Although he is known primarily for his bass playing with folks such as David Fathead Newman, Dewey Redman, Joe Lovano, and other notable musicians (not to mention his own recordings), Sound Embrace showcases Menegon’s exceptional writing skills. Let’s not forget the strong, lyrical and harmonically- advanced bass playing of Menegon as a soloist or intuitively interacting with the ensemble.”
@johnmenegonjazz

STEVE EINERSON (piano)
Pianist Steve Einerson originally hails from Milwaukee (WI) where he spent three formative years studying with David Hazeltine. After freelancing in the Milwaukee/Chicago circuit for several years, he relocated to New York City in 2004, fresh off the heels of being selected as a finalist to compete in the national jazz piano competition sponsored by the American Pianists Association. Whether it’s solo piano, small groups or big bands, Steve now finds his services in NYC in high demand and has performed at venues and jazz festivals across the country and around the world. A sampling of some of the musicians he’s had the privilege of working with include Marlena Shaw, Joe Farnsworth, Philip Harper, Killer Ray Appleton, Slide Hampton, Ian Hendrickson-Smith, John Dokes, Hilary Gardner, Teri Roiger, the George Gee Orchestra, and the Cab Calloway Orchestra.
@seinerson

PETE SMITH (guitar)
“Mr. Smith is something rare, fair and fine…a consummate musician who makes an unsuspecting audience aware that his guitar is not his instrument – it is his partner and musical mate for life – Mr. Smith exhibited skills that would make a symphony conductor salivate.” Stephen Mosher
Pete Smith is a New York City-based guitarist who performs in a wide range of musical settings. As a founding member of Grupo los Santos, a vanguard Afro-Cuban and Brazilian-style quartet, he has played New York’s Town Hall and concerts throughout the U.S., Cuba & Austria. Pete has performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival, as well as concerts in thirty countries throughout Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. He has worked with Norah Jones, trumpeter Donald Byrd, Cuban trombone master Juan Pablo Torres, Andrew Hill, Kat Edmonson, Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, the Moonlighters, Madeline Peyroux, Natalie Merchant and Huun-Huur-Tu, and is a member of Michael Feinstein’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. In 2023 he traveled to Congo-Kinshasa as a member of the band Opius Bliss—as cultural ambassadors for the US Embassy—to perform for and teach, play and dialogue with local musicians in Kinshasa and Kisangani.
@peteguitarsmith

MATT GARRITY (drums)
“Matt is a swinging drummer and true keeper of the flame.” Vincent Herring, saxophonist
Drummer Matt Garrity has been on the New York City music scene since 1994. He has performed with some of the best in the business, including Grammy winner Vincent Herring, David Williams, Teri Thornton, Peter Bernstein, Gary Versace, Ed Cherry, Ben Monder, Jeremy Pelt, among others. Garrity has been living in the Hudson Valley since 2017 and produces a concert series out of his home/studio in Woodstock called BARNSTOCK.
@garritydrums

ANGUS MENEGON (vocals, synthesizers, compositions)
Monolounge is the synth-punched, reverb-soaked vision of Australian songwriter-producer Angus Menegon. Crafting dream-pop from his bedroom, Monolounge melts 70s drums, 80s synthesisers, and 90s guitars into a melancholic journey through time. Angus did all the composing and playing on all 9 tracks of his debut recording KILLING TIME. It was released on Bandcamp in September 2024.
https://ihatemonolounge.bandcamp.com/album/killing-time
WebSite: www.ihatemonolounge.com
@ihatemonolounge