UNION — Experimental guitarist Ian Smit has had an exciting, extensive recording career – both as a solo artist and with his band, Monkeyworks.
He’s been with Monkeyworks for the past 30 years. The current line-up performed at notable places such as The Knitting Factory, NJPAC and The World Beat Jazz Series at The Guggenheim Museum. They also played at the CMJ Music Festival in the 1990s. Most recently, Monkeyworks has been engaged in creating completely improvised interactive soundtracks for dance, spoken word and painters painting, along with several silent films for the Studio B productions of “Frankenstein” and “Edgar Allan Poe” in a theater setting. Monkeyworks has also created live spontaneous soundtracks to various silent films in many venues around the Tri-state area.
It was at Central Six School in Union where Smit played his first musical instrument, the clarinet. But it was a family trip to Brigantine that sparked Smit’s interest in music. He remembered staying at a place that had a hi fi stereo system. “I looked through the records and they had The Carpenters, Woody Shaw… I always gravitated towards things that were melodic.”
Listening to music in Brigantine got Smit into the Great American Songbook standards, but his parents wouldn’t let him play guitar until he was 18. He was inspired by a buddy who worked at a deli. He said, “I would ride my bike to get a Hostess Suzi Q and a soda. My buddy, Pete, had his guitar at the store. Because of him, I got into the actual playing.”
Smit was intrigued by “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” television show. “He was a monster guitar player,” he said. “Him and Roy Clark.”
He’d also listen to AM radio and later transitioned to FM. “That changed everything,” he said. “A lot of the rock stuff from that era wasn’t as melodic, like the early Beatles or R&B, The Temptations. Slowly, I caught up.”
Smit really dove into guitar playing and then got into much more sensitive jazz. He said, “A lot of my favorite stuff, David Torn played on.”
Torn, an American guitarist, composer and producer, played electric/national steel guitar/effects on Smit’s digital album “Que?” which is available on Bandcamp. Torn is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. He has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse as David Bowie, Madonna, Tori Amos, Mark Isham, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, Mick Karn and David Sylvian. His music has been featured in a wide variety of films, including, “Velvet Goldmine,” “The Big Lebowski” and “Three Kings,” to name a few.
Smit has known Torn for decades, as have his bandmates in Monkeyworks. Maintaining those creative working relationships all these years are what Smit considers to be the greatest achievement. When asked about the highlight of his musical career, Smit said, “No real highlight at all. The highlight is, I’m still playing. Just made a record last week.”
The Savage and Smit Quintet will be playing at Smalls Jazz Club in New York City in October.
To learn more about Monkeyworks, visit: https://monkeyworks.squarespace.com/.
Photo Courtesy of Jp Fitzgerald
