Amanda Monaco - Playing guitar has led Amanda Monaco to perform at the Blue Note, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Birdland, Joes Pub, and the JVC Jazz Festival, as well as other venues in the United States and Europe. Amanda has recorded several CDs
as both a leader and a sideman, and has shared the stage with musicians such as Milt Hinton, Matt Wilson, Matana Roberts, and Harvie S.
As an educator, Amanda has served on the faculty of Berklee College of Music, The New School, and the National Guitar Workshop, is the author of Jazz Guitar for the Absolute Beginner (Alfred Publishing), and has fifty beginning jazz guitar lessons available on the critically acclaimed web site WorkshopLive.
Amanda's latest CD as a leader, I Think Ill Keep You, was released in 2009 on LateSet Records and her group Playdate recently released their debut CD on Posi-Tone Records.
Cellophane
Cellophane has elements of both danceable tango and Bach-inspired counterpoint, which highlight the talents of Gene and Jessie both individually and together. Amanda wrote the main theme with the sound of the upper register of Gene's cello sound and the richness of Jessie's bass lines accompanying him. There are sections in the middle where they can sing as only two cellos can. Amanda feels grateful and honored that Gene and Jessie asked her to compose this for them.
Cellophane's premiere performance was by 2VC on May 9, 2010 at 6th Street Sundays.