The basic idea behind Pocket Monkey is to provide an open architecture band where each member has complete freedom to play whatever he wants. I guess the fun is implied because it is a whole lot of fun to create and play. Many different musical styles influence our playing including Greek, fusion, jazz, rock, near east, and more.

Pocket Monkey Curriculum Vitae

Modern jazz? Putting Pocket Monkey into a specific genre is all but impossible. Eastern European melodies mix with jazz riffs, horn solos and some drastic horns. Sounds cool.

DIZ CARROLL

Writer, co-writer, horn arranger; Piccolo, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Soprano & Alto saxophones.

Born in 1958 in Seattle, Diz grew up in a huge blended family of musicians, dancers, singers. Onstage in Theatre since age 3, Diz continues with Reeds in the Pit (WWU, Burien Little Theatre, Tacoma Actors Guild, Tacoma Musical Playhouse). Jazz life began in 1973 with cousin Dave, joined by Mark Kelly in "Hugo Eckener Sextet". Diz still plays with "Hugo" as well as local jazzer Reino Moisio, and the Motown band "Sensations".

The 1976 Copenhagen Youth Festival gave him a first taste of Europe, a tradition maintained today with bi-annual visits to adopted music and theatre families from Athens to Zurich. Studying with Mitsos Hindsos on the Zurna in Greek Macedonia since 1983, Diz created the "Makedonians" to continue Mitsos' traditions here in the NW. The "Macks" remain an enduring good time band with 4 albums, five music books, 349 musicians, a thousand dancers and a dozen or so fans across the globe www.themakedonians.com

Western Washington University in Bellingham was the jazz hotbed of the 70's, giving Diz arranging chops, a lead alto reputation and a Teaching Certificate. From Alaska to the Sky' valley, Kindergarten to High School Band, Diz now teaches private lessons on Flute, Clarinet and Sax. He lives in North Tacoma with his second wife Gaye Winsor and 2 teenage sons, all musicians.

Diz first wrote and recorded at the AUDIO VORTEX in the fall of 1986 with "The Temptation of St. Anthony." The collaboration spawned the "Makedonians" first two albums, bringing another host of talent into Patrick's gene pool (Joe Mailhot "Together", Paul Orrico "Makedonska Verra", Pat Wickline "I was a Whale" among the sessions). Blame Diz for bringing Patrick out of the studio and onstage at Folklife and On The Boards, parading with the "Nightengale Dance Team" (1988-1990). Amassing a considerable catalog of studio originals by 2000, he, Tom Kemper and Patrick went ahead and formed the dream band "Pocket Monkey" with the goal of total creative freedom and performing even the most insane studio arrangements live.

THOMAS KEMPER

Perennial TimeKeeper & co-founder of "POCKET MONKEY" has been behind the Drum Kit for over 40 years now, most all of those years while under the Microphones. A Veteran Session Drummer & Orchestral Performer during the early '70's until discovering...DISCO! That alone changed the emphasis of this Drummer's regimen from "Play exactly what you're told to Play to ... Play what feels good & makes people get up & dance". Nowadays, TK weaves a Rhythmic Percussive Fabric by visualizing Colors & Shapes, and prefers to expose his Musical expressions through Jazz as a contributor to "POCKET MONKEY" & other Puget Sound area projects.

Equally at home on a Motorcycle, Thomas took time away from Recording in the '90's to compete in Observed Motorcycle Trials & was Top 5 in Class Nationally for many years.

Thomas has gained valuable background skills from his years in the Broadcast industry as a Videographer & Field Recordist, & has worked in the Motion Picture industry as a Stunt Performer on the other side of the Camera for Feature Film & TV Pilots. Most of this Stunt work was on, of course, a Motorcycle, often on Fire & crashing through Plate Glass Windows. It's all in a Days work!

Settling down now & often working from his personal studio, Thomas concentrates more on making the Recordings sound as good as possible Sonically. This has proven to be a welcome challenge for him. Much more difficult & rewarding than Bailing off of a Dirt Bike!

"It's neat to keep up the Beat...unless they Pay you to Crash!"

PATRICK DONICHT

Producer, arranger, writer/co-writer, engineer, mixer, bass guitar and drums.

Born in 1957, Patrick is a native of Washington state and has been involved with music his entire life, begining with piano and bass guitar. As a musician he has played in several area bands (Makedonians, Jon Strongbows Mystery School, Healing Art) and has done numerous studio sessions. He is co-founder of Pocket Monkey and wrote/co-wrote many of the bands songs (Jackie goes to the Circus, Three Legged Donkey, Tanus) with long time allies Thomas Kemper and Diz Carroll. Patrick engineers, mixes, masters, and produces most of the Pocket Monkey material at his production facility The Audio Vortex on Camano Island.

For the past 20 years he has been working on projects ranging from musical theatre/dance productions, commercial spots, Foley sound, movies, pop, rock, jazz, R&B, and classical music. Patrick currently enjoys working on experimental music projects and improvisational performances. Additionally he designs and builds complete recording studio's, rehearsal spaces, home theatre, sound design for clubs, and public spaces. In his spare time he likes to ride his mountain bike, travel, or drive his car as fast as possible at Pacific Raceway.

MARK KELLY

Plays saxophones, flute & clarinet in several bands in the greater Bellingham area, including Pocket Monkey, The Makedonians, The Atlantics, Saxquatch, The Saltwater Octet, SOS, Swing Street, and various pickup groups and jazz ensembles. He has taught in public schools since 1982, and currently conducts the Bellingham Youth Jazz Band and coaches and conducts in the North Sound Youth Symphony. Mark also teaches music lessons with a private studio business, and does graphics and artwork on the side. He lives in Bellingham with his wife, a cat, and a dove.

STEVE KIRK

Composer, arranger, guitarist and singer. Throughout his work, encompassing everything from multimedia to modern chamber music, he attempts to redefine pop music beyond the confines of contemporary restriction into a world where the odd and beautiful coalesce, acoustic and electric coexist and nothing is too far-fetched.

Born in San Diego, California, Steve grew up with music as the focus of his life from early childhood. Later moves to Seattle and Los Angeles gave him the opportunity to study with a variety of teachers. And there were bands. Lots of 'em. Prog rock, hard rock, jazz, alternative, swing. The one that really changed it all was Clubfoot Orchestra, the San Francisco-based ensemble that set the standard for live music/original scores performed with classic silent film titles like Sherlock Jr., Nosferatu, and Pandora's Box. Steve not only played with the band, he also consistently composed for Clubfoot, culminating in a mid-nineties stint writing and recording all the incidental music for a Saturday morning cartoon series, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat. It's still running on television in Europe and a DVD of the first season was released in 2002.

Most recently Steve was involved as the composer on a multimedia project that required that he compose, arrange, prepare scores, individual parts, and finally mix and master over three hours of music for a wonderfully creative game called Voodoo Vince (developed by Beep Industries for Microsoft Games on the Xbox platform) within a period of only six months. The original soundtrack audio CD is available in the music section at Amazon.com, and has received rave reviews.

A resident of San Francisco for almost 24 years, Steve has built a life that allows him to divide his time between composing, recording and live performance. Check out www.stevekirkpop.com and www.cdbaby.com/cd/stevekirk and www.weedfilegarden.com 

WILL ADAMS

Guitar, keyboards, bass, vocals, writer, arranger and music teacher/mentor. Born in Michigan and raised in Washington he is the long time (40 years) friend of Patrick Donicht. Beginning on guitar at the age of 9 he went on to play in many local area bands over the years (Quasar, Carmel Waters Band, Student Nurse). Equally at home on bass, guitar, keyboards, and vocals Will is able to instantly and easily blend into any musical situation providing rich textures and tonal colorations. He also wrote some of Pocket Monkeys favorite songs (La Lluvia, Reproduction, and Barista) and co-founded the improvisational band Healing Monkey.