the sweet sound of dissonance
by
Douglas Messerli
John
Beasley’s MONK’estra / Santa Monica,
California, The Broad Stage, the performance I attended with Pablo Capra on
October 12, 2018
Beginning
as a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, John Beasley for the last few years has
reimagined the great songs of pianist Thelonius Monk with, at first, a small
combo, finally expanding that into a larger jazz orchestra, MONK’estra, which successfully
demonstrates just how great of composer Monk truly was. Indeed, the two albums
the group has recorded garnered several Grammy nominations.
For lovers of Monk’s often eccentric piano
poundings and endless chordal embelishments, it may be hard to even imagine a
big band sound—with a row of saxophonists (who double as clarinetists and flautists:
Bob Sheppard, Tom Luer, Tommy Peterson, Adam Schroeder, and Danny Janklow), trombonists
(Wendell Kelly, Ryan Dragon, Lemar Guillary), and trumpeters (Bijon Watson,
Rashawn Ross, James Ford, Brian Swartz), along with percussionist Peter Erskine,
bass and acoustic player Ben Shepherd, and Beasley, himself, sporting a
Monk-like tam, at the piano and occasionally stalking the stage as the director—yet
Beasley’s arrangements incorporate much of the punch and yet complex texture of
Monk’s works.
The night’s list of songs at the The
Broad Stage in Santa Monica, a performance which I attended with Pablo Capra,
was announced from the stage, and since I standardly do not like to take notes at
events and I don’t know Monk’s entire oeuvre, it’s difficult to recount all the
titles. Yet I do recall Monk’s notable Round
Midnight, Little Rootie Tootie, Going on the Hudson (one of my
favorites), and possibly Dear Ruby.
There were many others; in all, Monk wrote about 70 songs.
What is totally unforgettable is the sound of this group, as if the Duke
Ellington orchestra had suddenly shifted into Monk’s extreme dissonance, which,
as one group member argues, “he [Monk] makes sound normal.”
The utter talent of this group allows
for a showcasing of the individuals, with a couple of baritone sax solos
(particularly of interest to me, since I played that instrument in high
school), a couple of trumpet and a trombone features, alto and tenor sex solos,
and special focuses on the drummer and bassist, along with, of course, Beasley’s
own very Monk-like piano renditions.
If
at times there may seem to be a bit of sweetening-up of Monk’s more
improvisatory approach, MONK’estra does capture the spirit of the jazz legend
and reveals, moreover, as Beasley notes, how much of his work included elements
of the history of 21st-century sound, including “hip-hop, bossa
nova, Afro-Cuban jazz, funk, fusion and free jazz.”
The near sold-out performance was filled
with people who couldn’t get enough of the highly energized sounds, awarding
the performers two well-deserved standing ovations, and demanding an encore.
What I think we all recognized, despite
the negative press Monk received throughout his life (jazz critic Philip Larkin
once describing him as “the elephant on the keyboard”), as the arranger /
pianist argues:
I discovered how pliable his
music is, like any
great composer—for example Bach, who sounds
great in any tempo. Monk’s music is so open
to interpretation because his compositions have
such a solid story. I figured out how to elongate
his sophisticated melodies and voice things in a
non-traditional way. And through it all, those
unforgettable melodies just stick with you.
great composer—for example Bach, who sounds
great in any tempo. Monk’s music is so open
to interpretation because his compositions have
such a solid story. I figured out how to elongate
his sophisticated melodies and voice things in a
non-traditional way. And through it all, those
unforgettable melodies just stick with you.
Even if the titles Beasley announced
didn’t all stick with me, yet those melodies are still replaying in my head
this morning, and the next time MONK’estra performs in town—they now travel the
globe in their performances—I hope to be there.
Los Angeles,
October 13, 2018
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