Last night I had the special pleasure of seeing one of my favorite trumpet players (Wynton Marsalis) and one of my favorite piano players (Brad Meldau) covering the genius work of Thelonious Monk. Monk’s work was characterized by huge intervals, complex syncopation, and resolutions in bizarre places and the band represented all that perfectly. Monk was also genius at playing chords that were not technically complicated but fit with the melodies in a complex way.
I was honestly a bit skeptical that a big band was performing small, 4 or 5 piece jazz music but the execution was perfect and they used the extra horns to write their own counter melodies and harmonies.
For the most part they sounded organic and fed off one another during improvisation, but my one complaint is that sometimes the performance felt “too polished” or too intricately composed and a bit less free flowing than I would have liked. I guess thats what happens when there are 20 on the stage instead of 5. It didn’t have that “raw” feel to it. Of course, I am sure they chose to be polished and I am just disagreeing with their choice
What was really crazy though, is that they brought in a child progidee pianist Joey Alexander (who is 12!!!!) from Bali to perform two songs with them. And, if I was listening to a CD and I heard his playing, I would guess he would be a veteran of 40 or 50 years. It was funny to see hi mask for the stool to be raised about 3 times before playing and then completely blowing me away.
For those of you who don’t listen to Jazz, I would suggest listening to some songs from the program, these are some of the definitive classics. Monk’s style of harmony is widely imitated by artists after him.
My favourite where Criss Cross, Ugly Beauty, and Brilliant Corners, but I enjoyed every piece
