Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Monica Trapaga

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Birth name
  
Monica Maria Trapaga

Name
  
Monica Trapaga

Instruments
  
Vocals

Role
  
Entertainer


Years active
  
1985–present

Movies
  
High Tide, Skin Deep

Labels
  
Genres
  
Jazz, Children's music

Monica Trapaga Monica Trapaga Alignment Event Solutions

Occupation(s)
  
Singer, song writer, TV presenter, actress

Associated acts
  
Pardon Me Boys, Monica and the Moochers, Monica Trapaga and the Bachelor Pad

Siblings
  
Ignatius Jones, Luis Miguel Trapaga, Rocio Maria Trapaga

Books
  
A Bite of the Big Apple: My Food Adventure in New York

Parents
  
Nestor Juan Trapaga, Margot Esteban

Similar People
  
Ignatius Jones, George Spartels, John Hamblin, Benita Collings, Gillian Armstrong

Monica trapaga jazz singer sydney bands musicians entertainers cover band


Monica Maria Trápaga (born 1965) is an Australian entertainment presenter, jazz singer and actress. She was a presenter on the Australian children's series, Play School, from 1990 to 1998; and had provided the vocals to the theme of Bananas in Pyjamas from 1992. She is the youngest sister of Ignatius Jones, an events director, journalist, actor and shock rocker. Trápaga appeared on Better Homes and Gardens from 1997 to 2003, in decoration-related segments. While on Play School, she started recording children's music albums as well as jazz ones. She was a member of various groups: Pardon Me Boys, Monica and the Moochers, and Monica Trapaga and the Bachelor Pad. Since the early 2000s, she has owned stores in Summer Hill and in Newtown.

Contents

Monica Trapaga Monica Trapaga Sydney JazzSingers Entertainment

Adrian Erdedi interviews Monica Trapaga


Biography

Monica Trapaga wwwsaxtoncomauimagesstoriesprofilesimagesc

Monica Maria Trápaga was born in 1965 and grew up in Wahroonga, New South Wales as the youngest child of a Basque-Chinese father, Nestor Juan Trápaga, and a Catalan-American mother, Margot (born 1935, née Esteban). Her older siblings were all born in Manila, Philippines: Juan Ignacio (later known as Ignatius Jones), Luis Miguel and Rocio Maria Trápaga – the family had relocated to Sydney by March 1963. In November 1991 she described her "fairly crazy Latin family. I grew up surrounded by music – everything from jazz and Latin to opera and classical. My father had a interest in jazz, particularly Afro-Cuban jazz."

Monica Trapaga Monica Trapaga She39s Leaving Home YouTube

In 1985, Trápaga, on lead vocals, was a member of a swing jazz-cabaret band, Pardon Me Boys, with William O'Riordan (aka Joylene Hairmouth) and her older brother, Jones: both had been members of shock rockers Jimmy and the Boys. In February 1988 they issued a self-titled album, which Lisa Wallace of The Canberra Times felt that "the harmonies on this disc would rival any Andrews Sisters' recording... Hot, tasty and jazzy." Trápaga left Pardon Me Boys as "I wanted to present myself as more of a musician than a cabaret performer" and they were a group she "outgrew because it wasn't my band."

Monica Trapaga Mum in profile Monica Trapaga bodysoul

In July 1988 she founded Monica and the Moochers in Sydney; another The Canberra Times reviewer described them as "a band that emulates the music of the late 1940s and 1950s" ahead of a gig in Canberra, which was to be followed by a tour itinerary including Perth. By November 1989 the line-up were Trápaga on lead vocals, Andrew Dickenson on drums, Julian Gough on tenor saxophone, Bernie McGann on alto saxophone, Adrian Mears on trombone, Alister Spence on piano and Jonathon Zwartz on bass guitar.

Monica and the Moochers' first studio album, Too Darn Hot, was released by August 1990 on rooArt Jazz/PolyGram. Michael Foster of The Canberra Times declared her voice "always amazes me... through the years, with the volume and range of sound generated from such a small, fine frame" while she "has a very strong and very accomplished and versatile backing group." For the album, the Moochers were Dickenson, Gough, McGann, Mears, Spence, now including Mike Bukovsky on trumpet and Dave Ellis on bass guitar.

In November 1991 their second studio album, Cotton on the Breeze, included tracks co-written by Trápaga, with her then-husband, Gough. The Canberra Times' Brad Turner caught a performance which provided "some powerful and tightly-played jazz, swing and Latin standards, and of course a selection from Cotton on the Breeze, most of which Monica wrote." At the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 the group were nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album. The group performed at Sydney's inaugural International Jazz Festival in January 1992.

In 2016, Monica was named as the head juror on the Australian jury for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

Personal life

Monica Trápaga had a relationship with Ian and they became parents when she was 19. Two years later she married Julian Gough, a jazz saxophonist, musical director and sometime member of her backing groups, they are also parents of a child. After separating "several years earlier" Trápaga stated dating Simon Williams, a lawyer, who already had children with his previous partner. In 2008 the couple were married; as of August 2013 they live in converted flour mill of five levels.

Trápaga authored a cookbook, She's Leaving Home: Favourite Family Recipes for a Daughter to Take on Her Own Life Journey, which was issued in October 2009. In March 2013, with her daughter, she co-authored another cookbook, A Bite of the Big Apple: My food adventure in New York.

Albums

Pardon Me Boys
  • Pardon Me Boys (February 1988)
  • Monica and the Moochers
  • Too Darn Hot (August 1990)
  • Cotton on the Breeze (November 1991)
  • Monica Trapaga
  • Sugar (2007) - La Brava Music
  • Monica Trapaga & the Bachelor Pad
  • Girl talk - M. Trapaga
  • Children's albums
  • Monica's tea party (1993) - ABC
  • Clap your hands (1994) - ABC Music
  • Monica's house (1996) - BMG
  • Monica's seaside adventure (1997) - BMG
  • Monica's trip to the moon (1999) - Festival Kids
  • Monica presents I love the zoo (2000) - Festival Mushroom
  • Children's videos
  • Monica's house (1996) - Monica and the Moochers
  • Monica's seaside adventure (1997) - Monica and the Moochers
  • Monica and George in the magic toyshop (1998) - Buena Vista Home Entertainment
  • Monica's trip to the moon (1999) - Monica & the Moochers
  • Kisses, cuddles & moonbeams (2000) - Monica & the Moochers
  • I love the zoo (2000) - Buena Vista Entertainment
  • Awards

  • ARIA Music Awards
  • References

    Monica Trapaga Wikipedia


    Similar Topics