Stark Reality,the - Acting, Thinking, Feeling -... Now

The band consisted of high-level jazz players, including a young on a fuzz-drenched guitar, whose playing "weaves in and out" of Phil Morrison’s bass and Vinnie Johnson’s drums. Key features of their sound include:

Instead of simple, catchy tunes, the band produced a wild, distorted blend of Miles Davis -inspired jazz fusion and gritty acid rock. The resulting album, The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop (1970), became a legendary "holy grail" for record collectors and has been sampled by major hip-hop artists like A Tribe Called Quest and J Dilla . Musical Style and Legacy Stark Reality,The - Acting, Thinking, Feeling -...

The Stark Reality is best known for a surreal project: reimagining children's songs written by legendary songwriter . The band’s leader, vibraphonist Monty Stark , was hired by Hoagy’s son, Hoagy Bix Carmichael, to update his father's tunes for a PBS children's show called Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop . The band consisted of high-level jazz players, including

Monty Stark used effects like fuzz and wah-wah on his vibraphone, creating textures described as "explosions in a bottle factory". Musical Style and Legacy The Stark Reality is

They willfully jumbled funk, art rock, free jazz, and psychedelic rock.

The songs often feature Monty Stark’s "monotoned parody" of an Oklahoma accent, singing about things like grandfather clocks and rocket ships.