Chris Mondak - Eternal Youth (2019)

Born in Venezuela, raised in Illinois, and now residing in Boston, composer and bassist Chris Mondak, just 21 years of age, already has amassed vast experience in jazz. Chris has studied with bass luminaries Cecil McBee, Dave Holland, and Larry Gray. With an aggressive bass style reminiscent of Charles Mingus, Chris has performed with the likes of Shelly Berg, Melanie Charles, Dave Douglas, Wayne Escoffery, Wycliffe Gordon, Jeff Hamilton, Jesus Molina, Matt Savage, and Marvin Stamm. Chris has toured extensively in the U.S., playing with the Jazz Band of America, Cincinnati pop/R&B vocalist Emmaline, Chicago rock band Rev Gusto, and his own jazz combo West of Staley. Chris also has performed in Australia and Mexico, and he has toured throughout China as a member of the Nextgen Jazz Quartet.

For his debut solo release, Chris assembled a group featuring some of Boston's top young jazz musicians, including Matt Kelly (trumpet) Haoran Li (trombone), Solomon Alber (saxophone), Federico Nuti (keyboard), Carlos Heredia (guitar), and Gavin Connolly (drums).

Two of the songs on Eternal Youth draw inspiration from Chris’s grandfathers. Chris’s maternal grandfather, Armando Canache—“Abuelito”—passed away in August, 2018. That same month, Chris’s paternal grandfather, Art Mondak, turned 90, and asked Chris to revamp his 1955 composition “Be Honest with Yourself.” The CD’s other six songs, including the high-flying “Du Wow” and the mesmerizing “Dream Catcher,” reflect Chris’s feeling of connection to jazz standards, and his drive to write new tunes with harmonies and melodies that capture the genre’s classic spirit of Eternal Youth.