I think he'd been forgotten as time passed. He was well known at the time and considered the top musician then. We're discovering such people through RUclips and Google. Marvellous.
Seems not underrated at the time, but it's us who hadn't heard of him. Accompanists aren't always publicised, especially with an acclaimed singer in the foreground.
Discovered this brilliant pianist via his work with Al Bowlly - two great talents - would not need the orchestra - I would have spent good money to see and here them both in a shed.
"Did you ever see a dream valking?- Vell I am!" must have been hilarious. These are wonderful. Monia was a real innovator. Just wish he'd been more frequently recorded. I love his work with Lew Stone. When he was present in the studio, to me he gave the band an extra dimension, sometimes a slightly mysterious and unpredictable edge with his dissonance and stark phrasing, but my absolute fave is his solo on "Serenade for a Wealthy Widow"- Shades of Theolonius, well before his time. Wonderful man.
His career lasted a lot longer and he did a lot of composing and writing scores around the 1950s which are beautiful and different to his stride belting. Clearly very versatile.
Very intriguing piano personality. I also discovered his name from the Al Bowlly short. Thanks for sharing these tracks - it was common to hear stride renditions of classics but the first two tracks are almost classical renditions of stride/popular tunes. I dont know the year of the final two tracks but the sound is more modern
Thinking about the possibilities, he may have fled the revolution with his parents 15 or so, years before (not really counting there), and grew up in the US during the 20s. Learnt piano and therefore as a kid, learnt to play jazz. Don't take my word for it, tho....lol
Monia was very male. Born in Odessa but emigrated as a child to Britain. Lew Stone had a very democratic way of leading his band and thought that everybody should have a chance to sing the vocal refrain. So he asked Monia: 'Will you do this vocal?' And Liter left the piano and came over to the mike and sang in the worst possible Russian accent. Once and never again.
Behind every great performer is a great accompanist or session musician! Hardly ever recognised or appreciated! Just listen to the style and dynamics of this great pianist! A bit like Scotty Moore and Elvis senario! cheers for posting. Pete 'Kiwi'Keegan
...A little less gorgeous as he grew older, a little more Russian in appearance, which is no crime. But older ones aren't as gorgeous as they are when young, even if every bit as talented as before.
Eastern Europeans now, as probably then, seem to be keenly interested in American jazz. I've been hearing popular musicians in Germany playing US music during the war years. A surprise.
Just looked up Spats Langham and Nick Gill "Puttin' on the Ritz". Aren't they terrific? I'd never heard of them before. I shared. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll delve further into other recordings from them.
Peter Taylor so glad you enjoyed them. We are great fans of "Spats" and manage to get to see him fairly often playing in various ensembles. He's a terrific banjo player and guitarist, with a lovely singing voice as well. He has exactly the right voice for the songs he sings and he is the person that first introduced me to Al Bowlly as he is a great fan himself and does a lot of his songs, perhaps he has been re-incarnated! He's also very modest, and often gives me tips on how to play guitar. I recently asked him if he would sing an Al Bowlly song which he didn't know, he promised to learn it and sing it for me the next time I saw him, which he duly did. That's looking after your fans isn't it. Best wishes
Yes it is...er….was! They need to be helpful and look after fans because that's what keeps them in business. They have stiff competition and todays top artist is tomorrow's feather duster....sort of....@@rmrh8520
RMR H....You too? Try an 84/5 year old female who is keenly interested in the music of this era. And you have a good Easter, too. Maybe I should say I hope you HAD a good Easter. Now for Christmas!!! (lol)
Peter Taylor - Hopefully we have the prospect of a good hot summer to look forward to after this bitterly cold winter, before we need think about Christmas. Sad to say Easter could have been better for me as I was in the throes of a horrid chest infection, but am feeling better now thank goodness, one of the reasons I am on the internet so much at the moment. As I said before thank goodness for RUclips, I have made so many wonderful musical discoveries. Like you, I love the music of the Liter, Bowlly era, but there are also some incredible young musicians too . I am in my mid sixties, retired and devoting as much of my time to music as I can. I'll never be a great musician, but music has always been my greatest passion in life, I am also lucky enough to have a non musician but long suffering husband. Don't forget to check out Spats Langham. Best wishes.
I definitely will, RMR H. You must live in the Nthrn Hemisphere (USA?). It's Australia here, and I live in the more tropical area. We're just coming to the end of a dreadfully hot and steamy summer. No proper rain, just wet! Hoping the freeze will be over up there soon and I can send you some warmth from here in Queensland. I lived b4, in the mountains to the south, where it was bitterly cold. We actually had SNOW! (now and then). All the best for everything you do and we're bound to be in touch.
Peter Taylor Goodness it never occurred to me we weren't in the same country, let alone hemisphere, probably your very English taste in music. Although I've travelled quite extensively, I've never had the pleasure of visiting Australia, although my Husband has as he is an ex Merchant Navy Officer. I travelled with him but, sadly I never got to visit Australia. I am living in the North of England, on the edge of the beautiful Lake District, so I count myself fortunate. You should have guessed I was English, we always bring up the subject of the weather. We are just coming into Spring now, my favourite time of year. I expect your Autumn is just as beautiful,
We're supposed to be having autumn weather but it's terribly hot for this time of year. Even bushfires, big ones out of control in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Not bothering us but surely a sign of climate change. I just wish for some cold weather for a change.
Monia Liter was a name I heard announced on BBC radio in my childhood in the 1950s; when I'd no idea whether "Monia" was male or female. After decades, forgotten by me, he turns up in Pathe News clips and transcribed 78s on RUclips. What a talent; and what a gem of a collection of 78s (they are discs?). I'd be interested to know the date(s) and have my guesses at the titles confirmed or corrected. Thanks for posting these excellently transferred recordings.
There is a recording of Al Bowlly and Monia Liter speaking to his mother. Monia in Russian and then in English with the heaviest Russian accent you ever heard. Al talking about what an honour it was, etc.. Somewhere RUclips has it. So heavy Vlad Putin sounds almost Oxford educated!
Peter Taylor because the left hand plays a base note followed by a chord and the distance is sometimes quite large, a bit of a stride What a great pianist he was.
Peter Taylor I would say in many respects it's more a case of precision. Achieved by practice, practice, practice, with the goal of always being able to hit the chord accurately from a distance. Long fingers can be an asset to many musicians, but many pianists have small hands. Myself included. Although I'm not exactly in this man's league! Incidentally my father was called Peter Taylor.
Is it just me, but during my long life I hadn't heard of Monia Liter, ever. Since the recordings of Bowlly with accompanying from Liter, people have discovered him and his brilliance. Or was he always around and I didn't realise?
Peter Taylor I only heard of him two days ago when I watched a youtube video of All Bowley singing the very thought of you accompanied by him, but his name was not on the credits. I was so impressed by his playing I did a little more research to find out who he was. It's an old story, the accompanist often gets little or no acknowledgment but where would the singer be without them. Having said that I'm probably wrong in this case as I think from my research Mr Liter was quite famous in his day, until quite a long time after the war, and deservedly so, in my opinion. Apparently when he met Bowlly he had his own dance band. Later on he emigrated to the UK and became a distinguished musician in the classical genre as well as jazz. As you probably know Al Bowlly was sadly killed in the blitz, a great loss to music. God bless RUclips for giving us the opportunity to listen to these wonderful musicians, that otherwise a lot of us would never have heard of.
Couldn't get a better accompanist. One of the greatest of the 20th Century. He could play ANYTHING. Born 1906 Died 1988. Look him up.
Simply one of the best. Monia's recordings with Al Bowlly are brilliant examples of a top class pianist interacting with a top class vocalist.
Thank you for this. Monia is an underrated pianist. He stands head and shoulders above all of his contemporaries.
I think he'd been forgotten as time passed. He was well known at the time and considered the top musician then. We're discovering such people through RUclips and Google. Marvellous.
Seems not underrated at the time, but it's us who hadn't heard of him. Accompanists aren't always publicised, especially with an acclaimed singer in the foreground.
ruclips.net/video/9Tut2BejAhU/видео.html
kind of like this guy
Discovered this brilliant pianist via his work with Al Bowlly - two great talents - would not need the orchestra - I would have spent good money to see and here them both in a shed.
"Did you ever see a dream valking?- Vell I am!" must have been hilarious. These are wonderful. Monia was a real innovator. Just wish he'd been more frequently recorded. I love his work with Lew Stone. When he was present in the studio, to me he gave the band an extra dimension, sometimes a slightly mysterious and unpredictable edge with his dissonance and stark phrasing, but my absolute fave is his solo on "Serenade for a Wealthy Widow"- Shades of Theolonius, well before his time. Wonderful man.
lol.....(spectacles, testicles vallet und vatch!) What everybody needs to remember before they go out the door.
His career lasted a lot longer and he did a lot of composing and writing scores around the 1950s which are beautiful and different to his stride belting. Clearly very versatile.
A pleasure to listen, thank you.
if there's such a thing as magic..this has got to be it!!
Really great to hear this artist and learn of his life. Thanks for this.
Very intriguing piano personality. I also discovered his name from the Al Bowlly short. Thanks for sharing these tracks - it was common to hear stride renditions of classics but the first two tracks are almost classical renditions of stride/popular tunes. I dont know the year of the final two tracks but the sound is more modern
Wonderful... to think that a Russian immigrant could be so expert in American jazz is fabulous.
Thinking about the possibilities, he may have fled the revolution with his parents 15 or so, years before (not really counting there), and grew up in the US during the 20s. Learnt piano and therefore as a kid, learnt to play jazz. Don't take my word for it, tho....lol
Liter had a rock steady left hand, but dear goody me, the things he did with his right hand...
The things he did!
Monia was very male. Born in Odessa but emigrated as a child to Britain.
Lew Stone had a very democratic way of leading his band and thought that everybody should have a chance to sing the vocal refrain. So he asked Monia: 'Will you do this vocal?' And Liter left the piano and came over to the mike and sang in the worst possible Russian accent. Once and never again.
Oh, why can't they have a recording mic handy when things like this happen!? What I'd give to hear that! Too late now...
Behind every great performer is a great accompanist or session musician! Hardly ever recognised or appreciated! Just listen to the style and dynamics of this great pianist! A bit like Scotty Moore and Elvis senario! cheers for posting. Pete 'Kiwi'Keegan
gorgeous looking, added to which.....!!
...A little less gorgeous as he grew older, a little more Russian in appearance, which is no crime. But older ones aren't as gorgeous as they are when young, even if every bit as talented as before.
The last tune is a Swedish folk song, called "Ack värmeland, du sköna"
Eastern Europeans now, as probably then, seem to be keenly interested in American jazz. I've been hearing popular musicians in Germany playing US music during the war years. A surprise.
Beaut.
Just looked up Spats Langham and Nick Gill "Puttin' on the Ritz". Aren't they terrific? I'd never heard of them before. I shared. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll delve further into other recordings from them.
Peter Taylor so glad you enjoyed them. We are great fans of "Spats" and manage to get to see him fairly often playing in various ensembles. He's a terrific banjo player and guitarist, with a lovely singing voice as well. He has exactly the right voice for the songs he sings and he is the person that first introduced me to Al Bowlly as he is a great fan himself and does a lot of his songs, perhaps he has been re-incarnated! He's also very modest, and often gives me tips on how to play guitar. I recently asked him if he would sing an Al Bowlly song which he didn't know, he promised to learn it and sing it for me the next time I saw him, which he duly did. That's looking after your fans isn't it. Best wishes
Yes it is...er….was! They need to be helpful and look after fans because that's what keeps them in business. They have stiff competition and todays top artist is tomorrow's feather duster....sort of....@@rmrh8520
RMR H....You too? Try an 84/5 year old female who is keenly interested in the music of this era. And you have a good Easter, too. Maybe I should say I hope you HAD a good Easter. Now for Christmas!!! (lol)
Peter Taylor - Hopefully we have the prospect of a good hot summer to look forward to after this bitterly cold winter, before we need think about Christmas. Sad to say Easter could have been better for me as I was in the throes of a horrid chest infection, but am feeling better now thank goodness, one of the reasons I am on the internet so much at the moment. As I said before thank goodness for RUclips, I have made so many wonderful musical discoveries. Like you, I love the music of the Liter, Bowlly era, but there are also some incredible young musicians too . I am in my mid sixties, retired and devoting as much of my time to music as I can. I'll never be a great musician, but music has always been my greatest passion in life, I am also lucky enough to have a non musician but long suffering husband. Don't forget to check out Spats Langham. Best wishes.
I definitely will, RMR H. You must live in the Nthrn Hemisphere (USA?). It's Australia here, and I live in the more tropical area. We're just coming to the end of a dreadfully hot and steamy summer. No proper rain, just wet! Hoping the freeze will be over up there soon and I can send you some warmth from here in Queensland. I lived b4, in the mountains to the south, where it was bitterly cold. We actually had SNOW! (now and then). All the best for everything you do and we're bound to be in touch.
Peter Taylor Goodness it never occurred to me we weren't in the same country, let alone hemisphere, probably your very English taste in music. Although I've travelled quite extensively, I've never had the pleasure of visiting Australia, although my Husband has as he is an ex Merchant Navy Officer. I travelled with him but, sadly I never got to visit Australia. I am living in the North of England, on the edge of the beautiful Lake District, so I count myself fortunate. You should have guessed I was English, we always bring up the subject of the weather. We are just coming into Spring now, my favourite time of year. I expect your Autumn is just as beautiful,
We're supposed to be having autumn weather but it's terribly hot for this time of year. Even bushfires, big ones out of control in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Not bothering us but surely a sign of climate change. I just wish for some cold weather for a change.
Out of curiosity, where's he from? Odessa, Ukraine? Or Texas? I've never heard of him it's beautiful playing.
The former.
Monia Liter was a name I heard announced on BBC radio in my childhood in the 1950s; when I'd no idea whether "Monia" was male or female. After decades, forgotten by me, he turns up in Pathe News clips and transcribed 78s on RUclips. What a talent; and what a gem of a collection of 78s (they are discs?). I'd be interested to know the date(s) and have my guesses at the titles confirmed or corrected.
Thanks for posting these excellently transferred recordings.
There is a recording of Al Bowlly and Monia Liter speaking to his mother. Monia in Russian and then in English with the heaviest Russian accent you ever heard. Al talking about what an honour it was, etc.. Somewhere RUclips has it. So heavy Vlad Putin sounds almost Oxford educated!
It's clearly a distinctive style, but I am curious about why it's called "stride" playing. Help!!
Peter Taylor because the left hand plays a base note followed by a chord and the distance is sometimes quite large, a bit of a stride What a great pianist he was.
RMR H Thanks for explaining. I guessed it might be because of the hand movement. You need long fingers and lots of stretch exercises then.
Peter Taylor I would say in many respects it's more a case of precision. Achieved by practice, practice, practice, with the goal of always being able to hit the chord accurately from a distance. Long fingers can be an asset to many musicians, but many pianists have small hands. Myself included. Although I'm not exactly in this man's league! Incidentally my father was called Peter Taylor.
Is it just me, but during my long life I hadn't heard of Monia Liter, ever. Since the recordings of Bowlly with accompanying from Liter, people have discovered him and his brilliance. Or was he always around and I didn't realise?
Peter Taylor I only heard of him two days ago when I watched a youtube video of All Bowley singing the very thought of you accompanied by him, but his name was not on the credits. I was so impressed by his playing I did a little more research to find out who he was. It's an old story, the accompanist often gets little or no acknowledgment but where would the singer be without them. Having said that I'm probably wrong in this case as I think from my research Mr Liter was quite famous in his day, until quite a long time after the war, and deservedly so, in my opinion. Apparently when he met Bowlly he had his own dance band. Later on he emigrated to the UK and became a distinguished musician in the classical genre as well as jazz. As you probably know Al Bowlly was sadly killed in the blitz, a great loss to music. God bless RUclips for giving us the opportunity to listen to these wonderful musicians, that otherwise a lot of us would never have heard of.
He's good but no Liberace!!
Thank God he wasn't. Lee was all show and but a little go, Liter was the complete opposite, a truly original pianist!