Monkey Business (band)

History

Monkey Business formed in Prague in 1999 with vocalist Matěj Ruppert, guitarist Oldřich Krejčoves, bassist Pavel Mrázek, drummer Martin Houdek, and keyboardist Ondřej Brousek. Their debut album, Why Be in When You Could Be Out, appeared in 2000 and featured contributions from Iranian-Czech percussionist Imran Musa Zangi and American trombonist Fred Wesley. The band then added American-Czech vocalist Tonya Graves, formerly of Liquid Harmony. The second album, Save the Robots, came out in 2001 with Fred Wesley, drummer Dennis Chambers, guitarist Hiram Bullock, and singer Dan Bárta.

Resistance Is Futile followed in 2003, including work by Iva Bittová, Jiří Stivín, Roman Dragoun, and Hiram Bullock. In 2005, Kiss Me on My Ego featured Imran Musa Zangi, Dan Bárta, Hiram Bullock, Glenn Hughes, and David Sanborn. Objects of Desire and Other Complications arrived in 2007 with Imran Musa Zangi and Kamil Střihavka. Twilight of Jesters? was released in 2009, again featuring Glenn Hughes and Dan Bárta, plus Vlastimil Třešňák and Ashley Slater.

Happiness of Postmodern Age came in 2013 with Dan Bárta, Ivan Mládek, and Joan Baez. Sex and Sport? Never! appeared in 2015, featuring Mike Stern, Gábor Presser, and Marta Kubišová. Tonya Graves left in 2016 and was replaced by Tereza Černochová before the 2018 album Bad Time for Gentlemen, which included Fred Wesley and Ashley Slater.

Freedom on Sale followed in 2020 with Dan McCafferty and Ashley Slater. The band's latest album, Když Múzy Mlčí, was issued in 2024.