2016 Monkey House – Left

Left is a studio album by the music group Monkey House released in 2016 on Alma Records. It was mainly recorded at the Drive Shed in Toronto. After the increased popularity of their previous album from 2012, entitled Headquarters, the leader of the band Don Breithaupt stated that “Part of the buzz for me on this album is that I sense a lot of people were waiting for it. I keep getting inquiries from people from all over the world giving me grief for taking so long, but that’s a fun situation to be in.” Once again, this release has raised comparisons to the music group Steely Dan. “There’s only one comparison really, and that’s Steely Dan, and in particular, the Aja-Gaucho period”, states jazzcorner.com. The album title Left is derived from the fact that Breithaupt made a big move from Toronto, to the “left coast”, or west coast of the United States, setting up a new home in the Los Angeles, California area prior to the production and recording of the album. He states that some of the tunes originated on his long drive across the wide open spaces in North America. The album features contributions from Steely Dan veterans Michael Leonhart, Elliott Randall, Jay Graydon, and Drew Zingg, and includes background vocals from Lucy Woodward (Snarky Puppy), as well as David Blamires (Pat Metheny Group). 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.