Monk once said, Play your own way. Don’t play what the public wants. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you’re doing, even if it does take them fifteen, twenty years. It took about that long for the jazz audience to accept Monk’s music, and as our opening paragraph shows, even longer for them to understand it. For years, musicians seemed afraid to adapt Monk’s compositions for fear of losing some unknown “x factor”, but gradually they understood that Monk’s music retained its individuality no matter how unusual the arrangement. A case in point is pianist Alex Conde’s new Zoho disc, “Descarga for Monk” (Zoho 201501), where the world of Monk and Latin jazz converge with stunning results. The album’s opening track immediately sets the mood with exuberant foot stomps and hand claps in an insistent triple meter. An impressionist piano introduction leads unexpectedly to the theme of “Played Twice”, its rhythm condensed to fit with the background rhythm. Conde’s solo makes an immediate dramatic shift, but it builds with great passion, as the piano rhythm crosses and interacts with the background. A repeated ensemble passage leads back to the reprise, which is actually only played once (unthinkable in years past!). Conde transforms the Monk themes throughout the album, some nearly beyond recognition (an astonishing recasting of “Evidence”, especially in the final chorus), and others only modified into new rhythmic patterns (“Ugly Beauty”). And lest anyone suspect that Conde is completely breaking with tradition, just listen to his thematically-oriented improvisations on “Thelonious” and “Monk’s Dream”. Conde leads a vibrant rhythm section with bassist Jeff Chambers, drummer Jon Arkin, percussionist John Santos, and his mother Carmen Carrasco and sister Amparo Conde on claps and stomps. Even if you’re not a fan of Latin jazz, you’ll want to explore this recording for its exciting reinterpretations of Monk’s immortal—and indestructible—compositions.
The Paris-born and New York-based pianist Jean-Michel Pilc uses the same general approach as Conde, except that Pilc deploys a wide variety of styles, and focuses on one particular song. The clever CD title, “What is This Thing Called?” (Sunnyside 1349) suggests a lighthearted approach to Cole Porter’s “…Love” song, but Pilc’s collection of 30 short variations also offer fascinating insights into this popular standard. According to the press release, Pilc came into New York’s Yamaha Piano Studios to record a collection of free improvisations, but when he listened to the recordings of the first day, he discovered that several of the pieces had elements of the Porter standard. It’s not clear whether Pilc started over again with the concept in mind, or if portions of the first day’s recordings were added to the final album, but either way, the variations flow together as effortlessly as Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” (to cite one obvious model for this set). As in the Bach, the connections between the variations and the melody are not always obvious. For example, “Run” uses a variant of the harmonic structure, “Giant” drops Porter’s melody over a famous Coltrane harmonic sequence (guess which one?) and on “Vox”, pieces of the tune emerge through a tempest of low-register arpeggios. Along the way, Pilc salutes some of his favorite pianists including Ellington (“Duke”), Solal (“Martial”) and Kenny Werner (“Grace”). The album has plenty of surprises (which I will not reveal), moments of supreme comedy and remarkable depth, and it is a tribute to Pilc’s overwhelming musicality and astounding technique that he successfully creates this panoramic homage to Cole Porter and his timeless song.
Near
the end of the award-winning documentary, “Keep On Keepin’ On”, veteran
trumpeter Clark Terry introduced his newest protégé, Justin Kauflin
to his longtime friend (and first student) Quincy Jones. Captivated by the young blind
pianist, Jones featured Kauflin in concerts and agreed to produce his
next CD. “Dedication” (Jazz Village 579003) is the first fruit of what
will hopefully become a long-lasting partnership. An intelligent and
tightly-focused collection of original compositions, the CD features
Kauflin’s personal tributes to his mentors, teachers, family and
friends. The intense and deeply soulful “For Clark” is one of the
highlights of the album. Anyone who has seen the documentary can sense
the strong spiritual connection between Terry and Kauflin, and “For
Clark” reflects the depth of that friendship. Kauflin creates a solo
that builds to an impressive climax without playing any extraneous notes
or fills. At the center of the album is a three-part suite, “Epiphany”,
“Tempest” and “No Matter”, inspired by Kauflin’s deep Catholic faith.
Pieces like this can become heavy-handed and pompous, but that is not
the case here. These are joyous works, containing some of Kauflin’s most
exuberant playing on the album, and are personal reflections rather
than incantations to join the flock. The fine and tasty guitar of Matt
Stevens appears on eight of the tracks, and the rhythm team of bassist
Christopher Smith and drummer Billy Williams are supportive throughout
(and highly interactive on tracks like the powerful “Lasting
Impression”, dedicated to another Kauflin mentor, drummer Jae Sinnett).
Acoustic guitarist Etan Haziza (like Williams, one of the musicians on
Kaufln’s first CD) is added on the final track, the gospel-soaked “Thank
You, Lord”. Kauflin has created an album remarkable for its restraint,
but still capable of drawing deep emotions.