Gary Meek’s new album, 'Monterey Groove', is not just straight-ahead jazz.

Gary Meek’s two previous albums were “straight-ahead jazz,” he says. “All acoustic, and this Monterey-based saxophonist and keyboardist found himself missing his LA roots.”

The result of that longing – and a year of hard work with local musician friends – is now a jazz-fusion album titled Monterey Groove, available Friday, Aug. 27. It combines both new creations and older songs from Meek’s 30-year career.

“It’s funky,” Meek says, looking around the venue he plays every Thursday and Saturday, The Inn at Spanish Bay. He knows his new material might be too funky for Pebble Beach, where he is asked to play American standards – straight-ahead jazz, in other words.

He says he will play a song or two from Monterey Groove here, but it will not be played the same way and, with an acoustic base, it will sound different.

Meek released quite a bit of his new album on Facebook and YouTube, so he’s received some feedback already. That feedback includes a lot of great reviews and some new fans that find this material more accessible. Sandy Shore from SmoothJazz.com, for example, told Meek he finally gave her something she can work with.

“We did the album remotely a lot,” he says, of recording during a pandemic. “Even though most of my musicians are local guys, everybody recorded their parts in their own studios. But it doesn’t sound like it at all. Everything is right. It sounds really good and it’s mixed really well.”

Meek wrote eight of the 11 songs on the record, and co-wrote two. It all started with a collaboration with guitarist and producer Michael Lent, later joined by bassist Robert Wider and drummer Skylar Campbell. There are also guest appearances by some of Meek’s long-term collaborators, including drummer Dave Weckl, vocalist Flora Purim and percussionist Airto Moreira.

Meek’s own prolific career includes more than 200 recordings, including notable collaborations with Weckl and a 20-year stint with Purim and Moreira. His recordings and performances have ranged from Jeff Lorber to Brian Bromberg to Green Day.

Born in Los Angeles, Meek and his wife have called this area home for the last 12 years. He was delighted to have a little album release party at Coffee Bank in Carmel on July 31. He is also thrilled he can pick up his longtime gig at Spanish Bay, where he performs with Steve Uccello (bass) and Andy Weis (drums). He usually plays piano, even though he is known mostly as a saxophonist.

The title of the album, Monterey Groove, is pulled from one of the songs. “It’s as simple as that. It’s an older song, but I decided to change the title,” Meek says.

And what was the previous title? “Bingo Banga Bongo. But I decided that Monterey Groove is a little bit better.”

Learn more about Gary Meek at garymeek.net