. He has performed with a range of fellow jazz musicians, including saxophonists James Moody

James Moody (saxophonist)

James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...

 and Ernie Watts

Ernie Watts

Ernest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...

, Eldee Young

Eldee Young

Eldee Young was a jazz double-bass and cello player who performed in the cool jazz, post bop and rhythm and blues mediums....

, Paul Martin

Paul Martin

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

 and Shawn Kelly

Shawn Kelly

Shawn Kelly is an animator of movies and was a co-founder of the company Animation Mentor, an online animation school with student/mentor relationships at its core.-Life and career:...

.

During the middle of 2002, Monteiro launched the album "Swinging in Chicago" which featured tracks such as Polka Dots and Moonbeams and I'm Confessin' That I Love You. The album was released in Singapore, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Malaysia, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. He is also the composer of the national song titled One People, One Nation, One Singapore which he penned in 1990. Other achievements in Monteiro's career include being designated a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (organiser of the Grammy Awards) in 1991 and remains the only Southeast Asian to hold a vote in the Grammies, performing with the Asian All-Stars jazz band to 14,000 people at the Shanghai Convention Centre in 1996, and being appointed artistic director of the Singapore International Jazz Festival in 2001, featuring 52 bands and more than 150 musicians from Singapore and overseas.

On 8 October 2002, Monteiro was conferred the Cultural Medallion

Cultural Medallion

The Cultural Medallion is a Singapore cultural award conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film....

 in recognition for his artistic excellence and contribution. He was the first jazz musician to achieve this honour. On 28 November 2003, Monteiro was conferred the "Lifting Up The World With A Oneness-Heart" lifetime achievement Award by Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, also known as Sri Chinmoy was an Indian spiritual teacher, poet, artist and athlete who immigrated to the U.S. in 1964., the founder of the religious organization "Sri Chinmoy Centre Church, Inc." better known as "Sri Chinmoy Centre"...

, who is the leader of the interfaith Peace Meditation at the UN

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 (since 1970) and also the leader of the International Peace Centre.

Monteiro was appointed a Board Member of the National Arts Council of Singapore

National Arts Council Singapore

The National Arts Council of Singapore was established in September 1991 "to nurture the arts and make it an integral part of life in Singapore.-History :...

  on 1 September 2006. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures & Commerce in the UK (the RSA) on 15 September 2006. He became a Fellow of the London College of Music which is part of the Thames Valley University

Thames Valley University

The University of West London is a public university based in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in Ealing and Brentford, London, and Reading, Berkshire....

 in the UK in early 2007.

On 29 May 2006, Monteiro released his first album of all original compositions. The album, which is the latest in his discography of more than 20 albums, is entitled Homecoming, was recorded in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 and is released in HDCD format on the Jazznote label. The recording was funded by the National Arts Council’s Cultural Medallion grant.

In 1988, Swing Magazine of Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 called him "one of the best exponents of Jazz Piano". That year, he performed with his all-star band, Monteiro, Young & Holt at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival.

In the 2003 Singapore Arts Festival

Singapore Arts Festival

The Singapore Arts Festival is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. Organised by the National Arts Council, it is one of the most significant events in the regional arts scene. The festival, usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month, incorporates theatre arts, dance, music and...

, Monteiro performed with legendary harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

 player, Toots Thielemans

Toots Thielemans

Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...

, together with the members of his NYC Trio, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Adam Nussbaum at the Victoria Concert Hall.

On March 11, 2005, as part of the inaugural Mosaic Music Festival, he performed at the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay in Singapore, with his international trio of Shawn Kelley and Belinda Moody, Singaporean singers Claressa Monteiro, Jacintha Abisheganaden

Jacintha Abisheganaden

Jacintha Abisheganaden , also known as Jacintha or Ja for short, is a Singaporean singer and actress.- Discography :Studio albums* 1998: Here's To Ben - A Vocal Tribute To Ben Webster...

, Anne Weerapass and Rani Singam together with Jazz legend James Moody

James Moody (saxophonist)

James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...

, in a concert to commemorate Moody's 80th birthday.

In March 1990, he was admitted as an active voting member of the National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences (Los Angeles Chapter), and has voted at the Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

s since 1991.

In late 1992, he produced the Ernie Watts album Stand Up.

As a composer, Monteiro has been awarded a Silver Medal at the 1991 International Radio Festival of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, as well as finalist awards at the 1990 and 1991 London International Advertising Awards for best original music score (radio, TV and Cinema). He has composed or produced over 700 pieces of music and is listed in the year 2000 edition of Who's Who of The World.

Monteiro, who is also a vocalist, has been singing more and more often in his recent performances. The Sept/Oct 2005 issue of the Chicago Jazz Magazine has this to say about his singing, "Monteiro has an appealing and expressive voice....you don't expect such a technically dazzling pianist to have such an intimate and wistful vocal sound...Monteiro is a consistently excellent vocalist."

Besides running his own production house Showtime Productions Pte Ltd, he is also the Director of Composers and Authors Society of Singapore Ltd, a company which administers music copyrights.

Monteiro has a total of 21 albums to his credit. He has performed and/or recorded with the likes of James Moody

James Moody (saxophonist)

James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...

, Michael Brecker

Michael Brecker

Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...

, Lee Ritenour

Lee Ritenour

Lee Mack Ritenour is an American jazz guitarist who has recorded over 42 albums, appeared on over 3000 sessions, and has charted over 30 instrumental and vocal contemporary jazz hits since 1976. One of his most popular songs was the smash hit, “Is It You” in 1981. Ritenour is considered to be a...

, Herbie Mann

Herbie Mann

Herbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...

, Paulinho DaCosta, Ernie Watts

Ernie Watts

Ernest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...

, Charlie Haden

Charlie Haden

Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...

 and Simon & Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...

to name a few.

Personal life

Monteiro has two sisters, Sheila and Claressa, the latter a professional jazz singer. He also has a son, Varian.

External links

• Jeremy Monteiro - official website
• http://www.monteiro.tv - YouTube Channel
• http://www.showtime-i.com - company website