Never Enough Thelonious Monk!

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of DL Media, Inc.)

It has been a little over a year since I last invoked my favorite precept delivered by the conductor Leonard Slatkin, “You can never conduct enough Haydn or Schubert.” My own variation on that “theme” is that, where my own collection of recordings is concerned, there is no such thing as too much Thelonious Monk. As a result, I was delighted that this month began with the release of a new Monk album. The title suggests that it is the first of more to come: Monk Live in Paris, 1967, Volume One.

My only disappointment is that there are only four tracks of music amounting to a little more than half an hour. However, the album is the first “official” release from the Thelonious Monk Estate, which is curated by Monk’s granddaughter, Sierre Barbara Monk. She has contributed a paragraph to the album jacket, followed by a Q&A exchange with Monk’s son, T. S. Monk. Personally, however, I am more interested in the music, whose four tracks are “Epistrophy,” Evidence,” “Ruby My Dear,” and “We See.”

Monk, of course, is at the piano for all of those tracks. Rhythm is provided by Larry Gales with Ben Riley on drums. Tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse is the only other musician to contribute to all of the tracks. The other performers are Phil Woods on alto saxophone, another tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, Ray Copeland on trumpet, and trombonist Jimmy Cleveland.

From a personal perspective, 1967 is about half a decade before I first went to a Monk performance. If my memory is not too faded, I believe I saw him at the Village Vanguard, after which I made as many return visits as my schedule would allow. (That schedule was based on trips I would make from Cambridge, Massachusetts!) I listened to everything Monk did with silent respect and never had the nerve to try to speak to him. As far as I was concerned, listening to the music was all that mattered; and that is exactly the way in which I have now approached this first Live in Paris release.

Those familiar with the Monk repertoire will know that all of the tracks on this album are familiar. However, repetition seldom rears its head in the performance of jazz. While all four of the tunes themselves are familiar to me, there was still much for me to absorb in the diversity of solo takes across all of the tracks. I am sure that I shall be making several return visits to this new album while waiting for “Volume Two” to appear!

“Spooky” SFP Program Deflated by Timo Andres

Last night San Francisco Performances (SFP) celebrated Halloween with a program entitled, appropriately enough, Spooky. The first half of the program was performed by the Kronos Quartet, which is still led by violinist David Harrington. All of the other members are recent “updates” to the ensemble: violinist Gabriela Díaz, Ayane Kozasa on viola, and cellist Paul Wiancko.

1904 photograph of Leoš Janáček (photographer unknown, public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

The second half of the program began with a solo piano set by Timo Andres. The world premiere performance of Gabriel Kahane’s “A Gorey Nocturne” was followed by an interleaving of “Monk Nocturnes,” Andres’ arrangement of three Thelonious Monk standards (“Crepuscule with Nellie,” “Misterioso,” and “Round Midnight”) with three selected movements from Leoš Janáček’s solo piano cycle On an Overgrown Path. The evening then concluded with an “all hands” performance of Philip Glass’ Dracula Suite, which he composed for Kronos.

The overall experience was more than a little frustrating, since the program was not easy to follow. It began with six movements extracted from George Crumb’s “electric string quartet” Black Angels, beginning with the five movements of the opening “Departure” section, followed by “God-music,” the first movement of the third “Return” section. This was followed by John Oswald’s “Spectre,” Jacob Garchik’s arrangement of “Tashweesh” by Ramallah Underground, Krzysztof Penderecki’s first string quartet, and a piece by Nicole Lizée entitled “ZonelyHearts: PhoneTap + CCTV.” The first half of the program concluded with Kronos’ arrangement of the shower scene music that Bernard Herrmann composed for Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho. All this was too much to negotiate, but one could still just sit back and let the ride go where it chose.

Andres’ set did not fare much better. Kahane’s premiere was “too much of not very much” (which did not surprise me in the context of previous encounters with his music). If that were not enough, the “Monk-Janáček partnership” was hammered out so brutally that neither of the composers was even barely recognized. That left the Glass suite in 26 movements, which, in the setting of more of Andres’ hammering technique, could barely be negotiated by even the most attentive listener.

Taken as a whole, this was a Halloween without any treats!

Rob Sudduth to Return to Chez Hanny as Leader

Rob Sudduth playing his saxophone (courtesy of Jazz Chez Hanny)

If my archives are accurate, saxophonist Rob Sudduth gave his last performance for Jazz Chez Hanny in August of last year. On that occasion he was on the front line for a tribute concert for Gerry Mulligan led by Mulligan’s drummer Ron Vincent. Next month Sudduth will lead a quartet of his own called the Rob Sudduth Big Horn Quartet. To be fair, Sudduth’s baritone saxophone will be the only horn in the quartet; but there is no questioning that the baritone instrument is a big one! The repertoire that he will bring to his next appearance will include the partnership of Duke Ellington with Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk, and Charles Mingus.

Sudduth will be joined by pianist Ben Stolorow, who had joined him in last year’s tribute concert. His bass player will be John Wiitala, who performed with the Dred Scott Trio at Chez Hanny towards the end of May of last year. The drummer will be Ron Marabuto, who has been a familiar face at Chez Hanny (even if I have no personal record of any of his performances).

As usual, the show will begin at Chez Hanny at 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 12. As always, the venue will be Hanny’s house at 1300 Silver Avenue, with the performance taking place in the downstairs rumpus room. Admission will be $25, payable by cash, by check made out to Jazz Chez Hanny, or by Zelle through jazz@chezhanny.com. There will be two sets separated by a potluck break. As a result, all who plan to attend are encouraged to bring food and/or drink to share. Seating is first come, first served; and the doors will open at 3:30 p.m. Reservations are preferred and may be made by sending electronic mail to jazz@chezhanny.com.

Andy Navela’s Latin “Party” Album

Pianist Andy Nevala on the cover of his latest album (courtesy of Jazz Promo Services)

This coming Friday ZOHO will release a new album of Latin jazz led by pianist Andy Nevala, who is currently based in Atlanta. His influences are both Afro-Cuban and Brazilian. The title of his album is El Rumbon (the party). There are ten tracks, over the course of which Latin sources rub shoulders with the likes of (in order of appearance) Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock with Bennie Maupin, Thelonious Monk, Sting, Dizzy Gillespie, and John Coltrane.

As might be expected, there is a diversity of percussion, performed by Frankie Quiñones, Emrah Kotan, and Ireland Faughn. Saxophonist Carlos Averhoff Jr. takes the front line to perform Monk’s “Bemsha Swing” (composed with Denzil Best). However, the tracks, for the most part, are dominated by Nevala’s keyboard work and Quiñones’ percussion work. Each of those tracks serves up its own share of invention, and none of the durations overstay the music’s welcome.

Joe Pass Solo Album Remastered

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Concord Music)

Recently I learned about the remastering of Virtuoso, a solo guitar album of twelve performances by jazz guitarist Joe Pass. Usually, I give a pass (pun intended) to old albums that have been retooled for new technology; but Pass was an extraordinarily talented guitarist whose performances definitely lived up to the title of that album. Since this new release now has a Web page on Amazon.com, I found it difficult to refrain from offering up my impressions.

Only one of the tracks is a Pass original, “Blues for Alican.” Taken on its own, this track lives up to the album’s name. Anyone skeptical of my enthusiasm would do well to consult the YouTube Web page, which not only provides a transcription of the music but also “parses” it into nine sections. It would not surprise me to learn that an enthusiastic musicologist may have written a doctoral dissertation about this composition! The remaining tracks cover a wide breadth of music of the first half of the twentieth century, with “Sweet Lorraine” (1928) at one end and Thelonious Monk’s “'Round Midnight” (1944) at the other.

This is one of those albums for which the attentive listener is likely to discover something new every times (s)he listens to it.

Gerry Mulligan and Thelonious Monk Remastered

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Concord Music)

A few days ago Concord Music released a remastered monaural recording of an album of Gerry Mulligan and Thelonious Monk that probably deserves to be called “classic.” The title of the album was simply Mulligan Meets Monk, and Amazon.com has created a Web page for downloading all six of the tracks. Some may find that skimpy; but, where Monk improvisations are concerned, just about every minute is an adventure in discovery! Mind you, the relationship between Mulligan and Monk is clearly a cordial one; and each of them has his own approach to improvising. However, from my own personal point of view, Monk is the primary reason for listening to this album!

To be fair, however, my interest in Monk has always been enthusiastic. This goes all the way back to my student days, when a visit to Manhattan almost aways meant going by the Village Vanguard to listen to Monk perform, usually in trio sets. As a result, when the fifteen-CD Complete Riverside Recordings box set was released, I wasted no time in adding it to my collection. I therefore have to confess that this is my preferred release, since it includes three alternate takes for “I Mean You” and two each for “Straight, No Chaser” and “Decidedly” (Mulligan’s “transmogrification” of Charlie Shavers’ “Undecided”). If I am going to get my head around the inventive approaches of both Mulligan and Monk, I need as much background as I can muster!

That said, most readers will probably be content with the remastered versions of the album’s six tracks. Opportunities to listen to a major composer perform his/her own work are few, even in current times. Even those that prefer the classical genre are likely to find engaging performance tropes on this reissue.

Recording of Steve Davis Sextet Coming Friday

This Friday will see the release of a new jazz sextet album led by trombonist Steve Davis. The seven tracks account for a live performance at the Smoke Jazz Club, located in Manhattan at the corner of 106th Street and Broadway (renamed as Duke Ellington Boulevard). The other members of the sextet are trumpeter Eddie Henderson, Ralph Moore on tenor saxophone, pianist Renee Rosnes, Essiet Essiet on bass, and drummer Lewis Nash. As is almost always the case, Amazon.com has already created a Web page for taking pre-orders.

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

The title of the album, produced by Smoke Sessions Records, is We See, which is a deliberate nod to Thelonious Monk. It should go without saying that this is one of the seven tracks. Other familiar tracks include “Milestones” (Miles Davis), “Up Jumped Spring” (Freddie Hubbard), “Star Eyes” (Gene de Paul and Don Raye), “Ask Me Now” (Monk again), and “All Blues” (Miles Davis again). However, the stand-out track is an homage to pianist Larry Willis with his “To Wisdom, The Prize.” Willis died in 2019, and he had been one of Davis’ closest collaborators. Thus, there is a strong personal context for the tracks that Davis prepared for this album.

These days I sometimes feel as if I am part of a dying breed that still grooves on straight-ahead jazz. Yes, I can appreciate musicians that boldly go where no improvisers have gone before; but my preferences still turn to those that can spin out inventive takes on past tropes. This is an album of tracks from the past; but the performances are, without a doubt, vividly in the immediate present!

Clark Terry with Thelonious Monk

Cover of the album being discussed (from the Amazon.com Web page for MP3 download)

The Riverside album In Orbit is distinguished by the fact that it is the only album of the label on which pianist Thelonious Monk appears as a sideman. In May of 1958, Trumpeter Clark Terry led a quartet, whose other members were Sam Jones on bass and drummer Philly Joe Jones, for two days of recording sessions. Mind you, Monk’s “secondary status” did not prevent the tracks from being included in The Complete Riverside Recordings anthology of his albums. Indeed, the accompanying Riverside booklet does not even credit Terry as the leader for those ten tracks (one of which, “Flugelin’ the Blues,” was not included on the original LP release)! To be fair, however, he is consistently cited as the composer for six of the tracks, the last of which is “Flugelin’ the Blues.”

This year, however, In Orbit was remastered. Amazon.com now has a Web page for downloading the nine tracks of the original release in this updated format. (Since it is the original release, “Flugelin’ the Blues” is not included.) The remastering was prepared by Craft Records as the latest addition to its Original Jazz Classic series. Nevertheless, many readers probably know by now that I do not obsess over fidelity. When I am listening to a jazz quartet, all that matters is that I can pay attention to all four performers. Thus, when Riverside reissued these tracks on CD for its Monk anthology, I just wanted to keep track of who was doing what as the performance progressed.

As a result, I cannot comment on the merits of the remastering process. More important is that the aforementioned Web site provides yet another opportunity for listeners to appreciate the inventiveness in “modern jazz” half a century ago. To be fair, I am willing to admit that I have a bit of an obsession for Monk; but that is because I was fortunate enough to listen to him in performance at the Village Vanguard during my student days. (Terry was not really on my radar in those days. I now regret that, but I have enough recordings to compensate!)

More importantly, I am glad to see that The Complete Riverside Recordings is still in circulation with a Web page that even includes an MP3 option for all fifteen CDs!

Randy Weinstein Plays Monk on Harmonica

Cover of the album being discussed (from the album’s Amazon.com Web page)

This Friday (at least according to the Amazon.com Web page) Random Chance Records will release HarmoniMonk, a delightful arrangement of seven compositions by Thelonious Monk played on a variety of different harmonicas by Randy Weinstein. The above parenthesis is a “red flag of sorts,” since the content on the Web page is sparse and inaccurate to the extent that the Track Listing folds two separate tracks into a single one. (For what it is worth, Bandcamp is even more confusing.)

The compositions, in order of appearance, are as follows:

1. Bright Mississippi
2. Bye-Ya
3. Green Chimneys
4. In Walked Bud
5. Off Minor
6. Ruby My Dear
7. Straight No Chase

Weinstein plays all of these, but he does so in a variety of imaginative settings. For the most part, the settings are result of Weinstein’s own mixing techniques. For example, in “Bye-Ya” Weinstein compiles a collection of samples of drum performances by Clyde Stubblefield to serve as his only accompaniment. “Off Minor” is even more imaginative. It seems to be a “layered” recording beginning with a “foundation” of Richard Huntley on drums and other percussion. Weinstein then adds additional layers, which included not only his chromatic harmonica, but also keyboard work and electronically synthesized bass and bass flutes.

On the other hand, there is a good chance that both “Green Chimneys” and “In Walked Bud” are “live” performances. Both of these are duets with George Rush accompanying Weinstein on bass on “Green Chimneys,” while Michaela Gomez provides guitar accompaniment for “In Walked Bud.” Ironically, even when it is clear that a track is the result of meticulous engineering and mixing, there is still an element of spontaneity. The delivery may not bring you to the edge of your seat the way that watching Monk in action tended to do (back when I tried to catch him at the Village Vanguard whenever I was in Manhattan). Nevertheless, Weinstein has conjured up a decidedly non-standard reflection on Monk that is likely to seize the attention of any serious listener.

Alchemist Jazz Quintet at Mr. Tipple’s

As had been announced earlier this month, the Alchemist Quintet visited Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club yesterday evening to perform the first two sets. This group has a somewhat unconventional front line shared by Michele Walther on violin and saxophonist Doug Pet, playing both tenor and soprano. The rhythm section consisted of John Kiskaddon on piano, bassist Ted Burik, and Greg German on drums.

Most of the selections were originals. By my count, both Walther and Kiskaddon contributed two of them. Pet used his, “Castles Out of Ashes,” to highlight his soprano work, which could not have been more polished. By my count, both Burik and German took only one extended solo each. Burik took the lead in improvising on Walther’s “Valentine’s Waltz,” providing a “call” to which Walther then “responded.” That exchanged was then capped off by a solo take from Kiskaddon. German got his chance to bring his technique to the foreground to cap off a series of improvisations around Pet’s “Breakthrough.”

As just about every reader will realize by now, this was a combo that delivered jazz the way I like it. Whether the music was a ballad (“Stella by Starlight”), a waltz (“Valentine’s Waltz”), or straight-ahead jazz, there was more than enough inventiveness to keep the attentive listener occupied. There also seemed to be a determination to connect with the audience (even those more occupied with food, drinks, and conversation), thus getting beyond the don’t-bother-me-I’m-busy demeanor of many of the more intensely focused jazz players. The whole affair was an engaging one serving up novelty mixed with imaginative takes on the traditional selections.

Tod Cochran Trio at SFJAZZ

Todd Cochran (from the banner for the SFJAZZ event page)

Yesterday evening I was able to get over to the Joe Henderson Lab in the SFJAZZ Center to take in the first set performed by the Todd Cochran Trio. Cochran led at the piano, joined by John Leftwich on bass and drummer Lyndon Rochelle. Cochran gave his program the titled Remembering… a homage to my hometown, San Francisco. However, he did not dwell on this concept, preferring to serve up a little less than an hour’s worth of thoroughly engaging performances reflecting on different aspects of his repertoire.

These days it seems as if everyone feels an obligation to give a nod to Thelonious Monk, and Cochran was no exception. He began the set with “Brilliant Corners” (which I have always felt gets far less attention than it deserves). Each of the numbers on the program allowed for extended solos by Leftwich and Rochelle; and, for this opening selection, Leftwich took his solo playing his bass with his bow. The tinge of melancholy in those bowed sonorities almost seemed to constitute a memorial nod to Monk’s spirit.

Early in the evening, Cochran let Leftwich and Rochelle take a break while he gave a solo account of one of his own compositions. “Crescent Moon” unfolded with a throughly engaging interplay of both harmonic and rhythmic progressions. This entailed the sort of sophisticated keyboard work that would make any skilled classical pianist gape with envy. (If Jean-Yves Thibaudet is not yet aware of Cochran, he would do well to go over to Amazon.com and check out some of his albums!)

Of particular interest was “LaRue.” This was composed for Emma LaRue Anderson by her husband Clifford Brown. He performed the tune as a vocal, putting his trumpet aside for the occasion. Last night that vocal line was taken as a bass solo by Leftwich.

In a somewhat affectionate vein, Cochran wrapped up the set with a waltz. The title was “Xoshia Girl,” which seemed to reflect the wrong continent! (Cochran said nothing about the title other than naming it.) Whatever the context may have been, the music provided an engagingly affectionate way to bid farewell to the highly attentive audience that had assembled for this set.

Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy in Antwerp

Mal Waldron, Steve Lacy, Reggie Workman, and Andrew Cyrille performing in Antwerp (from the booklet accompanying the album being discussed)

My final examination of a new album released in celebration of Record Store Day is The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp. This is another quartet album led jointly by pianist Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone. Rhythm is provided by Reggie Workman on bass and drummer Andrew Cyrille. The album accounts for the entire performance, which took place at De Singel Arts Center in Antwerp (Belgium) on September 30, 1995. Like Atlantis Lullaby, which was discussed yesterday, the album consists of two CDs. The overall duration is 100 minutes (again including time set aside for applause).

Also like Atlantis Lullaby, the tracks tend to be generous in duration. Indeed, the shortest track is “Epistrophy,” which Thelonious Monk composed with Kenny Clarke in 1941. (I always get a bit of a chill when I am listening to adventurous jazz that is older than I am!) I suspect that this was deployed as a “punctuation mark” for the longer opening selection, which was Waldron’s “What It Is.” Waldron’s more extended contribution is a medley lasting a little less than 25 minutes, which couples his “Snake Out” with his “Variations on a Theme by Cecil Taylor.” I found it somewhat interesting that, over the course of the thirteen pages of text provided by the highly informative booklet, no one identified Taylor’s theme; but, to be fair, it is usually not an easy matter to extract the theme from one of the tracks on a Taylor album!

Lacy contributed only one of his own originals to this set, “Longing,” which is one of the moderately shorter offerings. The more impressive undertaking is Workman’s “Variation of III,” which is almost half an hour in duration. Once again, the booklet provides no clues about what that title is meant to convey. To be fair, however, I do not think that much is to be gained from trying to overthink the listening experience. Ever since The Wire, many of us have had a tendency to fall back on the assertion that “It is what it is;” but, where adventurously inventive jazz is concerned, I can think of no better advice for how to approach performances and improvisations.

Gregory Lewis Rethinks Monk on Organ

Organist Gregory Lewis on the cover of his Organ Monk Going Home album

A little over a month ago, Sunnyside Records released Organ Monk Going Home, an album of compositions by Thelonious Monk performed by an organ trio. Organist Gregory Lewis is the leader, joined by Kevin McNeal on guitar and Nasheet Waits on drums. The best source for this album is the Bandcamp Web page, which enables both physical and digital purchases and includes a highly informative essay. The album consists of eight tracks, the first seven of which are by Monk with a Lewis original, “Jaclyn’s Eyes,” as the conclusion.

The essay makes it clear that playing any Monk composition on organ would require serious rethinking. So much of what he did at his piano keyboard was uniquely eccentric and dependent on the percussive qualities of how individual keys would be struck. Lewis had to develop his own original set of approaches, which he shared with McNeal’s exploration of appropriate guitar techniques.

I suspect that Lewis and McNeal also realized that the entire Monk canon would have to be seriously filtered, since not all of his compositions would accommodate any useful approach to that rethinking process. As a result, several of the tracks are based on less familiar Monk compositions. Thus, the album begins with “Who Knows,” which was one of Monk’s Blue Note tracks, recorded on October 21, 1947. Then there are the two tunes that were first recorded on October 15, 1955 in a session led by saxophonist Gigi Gryce, “Gallop’s Gallop” and “Brake’s Sake.” The more familiar offerings on the album are “Evidence,” “San Francisco Holiday,” and “Brilliant Corners.”

Personally, I enjoyed this opportunity to listen to Monk through what we might call “a fresh set of auditory glasses.” Both Lewis and McNeal managed to find just the right “sweet spots,” where the “letter” of Monk’s compositions would cohabit with the “spirit” of organ and guitar techniques. One might call this an album of “new dimensions;” and I suspect that it will take a fair amount of listening to appreciate the full extent of those dimensions.

Now, is there a harpsichordist out there willing to take a similar approach to rethinking the Monk canon?

SFJAZZ to Honor Thelonious Monk with Festival

Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was born on October 10, 1917. This year his son, T.S. Monk, will come to the SFJAZZ Center to celebrate his father’s birthday with a program entitled Monk on Monk. This will be followed by a Thelonious Monk Festival, which will take place over the four days between Thursday, October 12, and Sunday, October 15. The birthday concert will take place in Miner Auditorium, and all of the Festival programs will be performed in the Joe Henderson Lab.

The birthday salute to Thelonious Monk has been an annual event. His son, drummer T.S. Monk, will assemble a ten-piece ensemble to perform a program inspired by the legendary Town Hall concert that his father performed in New York in 1959. He will partner with trumpeter Don Sickler to prepare the arrangements for that ensemble, including “Little Rootie Tootie,” which his father dedicated to him. The Web page for purchasing tickets has already been created; the prices are $25, $35, $45, and $65. For those that do not yet know, the SFJAZZ Center is located at 201 Franklin Street, on the northwest corner of Fell Street.

With two exceptions, tickets for the Festival will be sold for $25. Performance dates and times are as follows, including hyperlinks to their respective event pages:

• Thursday, October 12, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.: Tenor saxophonist Aaron Bennett will lead a trio in performances of the music from Monk’s live 1958 Riverside album Thelonious In Action, recorded at the legendary Five Spot Café. Rhythm will be provided by Dan Seamans on bass and drummer Smith Dobson. The repertoire will include familiar Monk classics such as “Rhythm-A-Ning,” “Epistrophy,” “Blue Monk,” and “Evidence.” The album also included lesser-known works, such as “Light Blue” and “Coming on the Hudson.”
• Friday, October 13, 7:30 p.m.: This will be the first partnership concert in which the SFJAZZ Collective performs with San Francisco Conservatory of Music students in the Roots, Jazz & American Music program. The participating Collective members will be vocalist Carmen Bradford, Matt Brewer on bass, and drummer Matt Wilson. This is the one of the two exceptions for ticket prices. General admission will be $20 with a $10 rate for students. Program details have not yet been announced.
• Saturday, October 14, 8:30 p.m. (tickets for 7 p.m. are sold out): San Francisco pianist Larry Vukovich will lead a trio (members not yet identified) in a program that combines Monk masterpieces with standards from the Great American Songbook.
• Sunday, October 15, 2 p.m.: Guitarist John Schott has prepared a program entitled Round Midnight Reconsidered. He will perform with a cast of adventurous musicians to lead a six-hour exploration of “'Round Midnight.” All tickets will be sold for $15.

Dave Bass to Release His Latest Trio Album

Cover design for the album being discussed (courtesy of Mouthpiece Music)

This coming Friday jazz pianist Dave Bass will release the third installment in a series of albums entitled simply The Trio. The other members of his trio are Kerry Kashiwagi on bass and Scott Gordon on drums, with guitarist Barry Finnerty making “special guest” appearances on three of the tracks. As of this writing, the album will only be released through digital download; and Amazon.com has already created a Web page to process pre-orders.

I first became aware of Bass in August of 2019, when Whaling City Sound released his No Boundaries recording. This was his third album and the last one before he began his series of The Trio releases. No Boundaries was also basically a trio album but with Carlos Henriquez on bass and Jerome Jennings on drums. However, there were more “guest” appearances than those found on the new album. I had been drawn to it because its opening track was “Lennie’s Pennies,” a composition by Lennie Tristano that definitely deserves “classic” status.

The “jazz hero” on the new release is Thelonious Monk, represented on two tracks by “Criss Cross” and “Played Twice,” respectively. The other “hero” on the album is Astor Piazzolla, whose “Libertango” is given a thoroughly engaging account. Bass himself is represented by three tracks, one of which is “Agenbite of Inwit.” That composition had previously occupied the third track of No Boundaries, and it prompted me to take my own riff on James Joyce’s Ulysses when I discussed that earlier album.

After listening to Bass’ latest release, I decided to browse the track listings of the first two volumes. What struck me was his blend of music from “masters of the past” (such as Tristano) with his own inventions. Given the current length of my queue of albums to be discussed, I may wait a bit before turning my attention to those earlier volumes; but listening to the most recent one has definitely piqued my attention.

The Pilc Moutin Hoenig Trio Returns

François Moutin, Jean-Michel Pilc and Ari Hoenig (photograph by Anthony J. Branco, courtesy of DL Media)

About two months ago, I received word from one of my sources of the return of Pilc Moutin Hoenig (PMH) with its first album after twelve years. To be honest, twelve years ago I knew nothing about the jazz trio of pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, bassist François Moutin, and drummer Ari Hoening; but I knew enough about my source to request a download. I was not in the least bit disappointed.

The title of the new album is YOU Are the Song, released by Justin Time Records. All ten tracks were “live” recordings, captured on June 11, 2022 in a session at the Big Orange Sheep studio in Brooklyn. The album will be released one week from today; and, as expected, Amazon.com has already created a Web page to process pre-orders.

Three of the tracks are PMH originals. One of them, “Searing Congress,” emerged spontaneously during the recording session as a mashup of three standards: “What is This Thing Called Love,” “Hot House,” and “Take the Coltrane.” That last may have reflected the decision to play John Coltrane’s “Impressions” during the session. Personally, however, I am drawn to jazz musicians that take the music of Thelonious Monk as a point of departure for their own inventions. Monk accounts for two of the tracks on the album, “Straight No Chaser” and “Bemsha Swing,” the latter written with Denzil Best. That second Monk tune resurfaces during the subsequent take on “Dear Old Stockholm,”

What is most important, however, is that sense of engaged spontaneity captured during the recording session. Pilc described that session as follows: “We just started playing and didn’t stop for nearly three hours. We ended up having enough music to make two or three albums.” Anyone that listens for innovative jazz interpretations will easily lock on to YOU Are the Song; and, in response to Pilc’s account of the recording session, that listener will come away wondering when the next album will be released.

Next Generation of Guitarists: A New Video

This past January the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts presented the “2nd Edition” of a performance entitled The Young Virtuosos. The program presented four young guitarists, all of whom had developed enough technique and repertoire to be considered as candidates for the next generation of virtuosos. The names of the performers were Ethan Boyers, Emilia Díaz Delgado, Reade Park, and Trent Park.

Those that missed this showcase program deserve to be informed that the entire recital was captured on video. That video accounted for all of the music performed on the program, and it will be made available for viewing through the Omni Foundation YouTube Channel beginning at 10 a.m. this coming Sunday, March 26. The Web page has already been created, but it will only be activated at that time on Sunday morning.

The program will begin with all four of the guitarists playing Matthew Cmiel’s arrangement of the final two movements of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 101 piano sonata in A major. After that, each performer will perform a solo mini-set as follows:

• Trent Park: the first two movements of Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 972 harpsichord concerto in D major, arranged by Judicael Perroy
• Ethan Boyers: the second (Fuga) movement from Bach’s BWV 997 lute suite, arranged by Frank Koonce; Roland Dynes’ arrangement of the popular song “All of Me” by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons
• Reade Park: the fourth movement of Antonio José Martínez Palacios’ guitar sonata; Dyens’ arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight”
• Emilia Díaz Delgado: Sergio Assad’s “Sun Wukong’s Toccata”

Long-Time Friends Unite at Bird & Beckett

John Schott with his guitar (from the Bird & Beckett Web page for the performance being discussed)

Last night Bird & Beckett Books and Records hosted a performance by the Actual Trio, led by guitarist John Schott. The other members are Dan Seamans on bass (bowed as well as plucked) and John Hanes on drums. For this occasion the trio was joined by a special guest at the piano, Maya Kronfeld.

Kronfeld is a native of Berkeley, and she and Schott have been friends for a long time. Currently, however, she is teaching both philosophy and literature at Princeton University; and, from what I could pick up from the chatter, she was back in the Bay Area for a convention. Fortunately, she was able to put her academic commitments aside long enough to jam once again with Schott, along with his trio.

Watching the livestream from home, I found the performances to be capable but not consistently engaging. Both Schott and Kronfeld contributed compositions, and all four of the players exhibited accounts of solid technique. However, by the time the first set had concluded, I felt as if I had had my fill.

Nevertheless, there was one offering that definitely drew and sustained my attention. This was Thelonious Monk’s “Introspection.” Schott introduced this piece by observing that it had been recorded only twice, both very early and very late in Monk’s discography. More specifically (from my own research), the earlier release came from Monk’s second recording session with Blue Note. This took place on October 24, 1947, when he led a trio whose other members were Gene Ramey on bass and Art Blakey on drums.

Mind you, last night’s performance was not an evocation of the past. The quartet clearly “introspected” Monk’s music and then charted a path of their own. Nevertheless, there was something refreshing about encountering a Monk composition that I had only known through my collection of recordings.

Storyville Releases Solo Petrucciani Album

One of my greater regrets has been the paucity of opportunities to listen to the jazz piano work of Michel Petrucciani that have come my way. According to my archives, I have written about only one album documenting a performance. The title of that album was One Night in Karlsruhe, documenting a live broadcast made by Süddeutscher Rundfunk on July 7, 1988. I wrote about that album on the date of its release over three years ago, January 11, 2019. This was a trio performance with Gary Peacock on bass and Roy Haynes on drums providing rhythm for Petrucciani.

I shall not repeat the biographical background material concerning Petrucciani’s genetic disease and his early death at the age of 36 on January 6, 1999. Since One Night in Karlsruhe provided my first opportunity to write about Petrucciani, I was generous in providing background. Those unfamiliar with that background can follow the hyperlink in the preceding paragraph.

courtesy of Naxos of America

A little over a month ago Storyville released a new album entitled Solo in Denmark. It documents the solo set that Petrucciani performed for the Silkeborg Riverboat Jazz Festival in Denmark on June 23, 1990 in the Silkeborg Church. The tracks include two Petrucciani originals, “P’tit Louis” and “She Did it Again.” Thelonious Monk receives the same amount of “track attention” with Petrucciani’s unique interpretations of both “Round Midnight” and “Blue Monk.” There is also a track for Bruno Martino’s “Estate,” composed in 1960 and receiving a generous amount of attention from a diverse assortment of jazz players during the ensuing decade. Those performers included Chet Baker and Monty Alexander. The final track of the album appears to be Petrucciani’s encore selection, a medley that combines several favorite standards with a few of “Miles Davis’ Licks” (as described on the back cover of the album).

While the opening two tracks run for only a little more than five minutes, the following four run between seven and eight and a half minutes. One of these is the “Round Midnight” track. Given how many times this was recorded by Monk himself, each with its own improvised licks, one has to be drawn to the amount of original invention that Petrucciani brought with him on his visit to Denmark. This involves several ambitious (if not a bit disorienting) ventures into off-beat rhythms that establish Petrucciani’s capacity for unique interpretation.

Petrucciani was fortunate enough to establish his reputation during the final quarter of the last century. If one evokes the standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants metaphor (without being demeaning of Petrucciani’s own physical stature), 1975 offered up an impressive diversity of those shoulders, including Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis (including both of his quintets), and John Coltrane. Petrucciani clearly exploited the benefits of history, which then equipped him to establish his own inventive paths. Solo in Denmark provides the attentive listener with the opportunity to experience and appreciate the diverse scope of those paths.

A Guitar Trio Homage to Bebop Classics

courtesy of DL Media

A little less than a month ago, Sony Music Entertainment / Masterworks released its latest album of jazz guitarist Pasquale Grasso entitled Be-Bop! Taken as a “historical exercise,” the album can be taken as a follow-up to Pasquale Plays Duke, Grasso’s personal reflections on the Duke Ellington repertoire. As might be guessed, the new album is devoted almost entirely to trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker. That includes two tunes that they composed jointly, “Shaw  'Nuff” and “Groovin' High.” The other Parker selections are “Cheryl,” “Ornithology,” and “Quasimodo.” The Gillespie offerings are “A Night in Tunisia” and “Be-Bop.” There is also one Thelonious Monk track, “Ruby, My Dear.” “I’m in a Mess” was written by Pearl White and found its way into Gillespie’s “book.” The remaining track is a Grasso original: “Lamento Della Campagnia.”

As was the case on Pasquale Plays Duke, Grasso leads a trio, whose other members are Ari Roland on bass and Keith Balla on drums. Samara Joy, who was also a “guest vocalist” on the Ellington album, joins the trio to sing “I’m in a Mess.” Taken as a whole, this album should provide a generous dose of nostalgia for those with fond memories of both Gillespie and Parker. Most of the improvisational work unfolds during Grasso’s performances, but there are a few “intrusions” by Roland that broaden the scope of innovations.

I suspect I shall be showing my age by my delight in a contemporary musician devoting so much attention to great masters from the previous century. The fact is that there was so much off-the-wall originality in the Parker discography that I was quickly drawn to a present-day soloist with the chops to explore new paths of inventiveness that enhance Bird’s reputation, rather than detracting from it. Mind you, I doubt that anything will ever tear me away from the many Gillespie, Parker, and Monk albums I have added to my collection; but Grasso’s own point of view offers equally engaging listening opportunities. This is one of those occasions on which past and present meet together on common ground, and Grasso’s contemporary performances can easily be taken as new lights to shine on the many explorations of twentieth-century bebop.