Written by Jim Eigo:
jim@jazzpromoservices.com
Jimmy Owens – The Monk Project
Live Appearance at Dizzy's Coca Cola
Tue thg Sun Jan 3 thg 8, 2012
NEW CD
Jimmy Owens – The Monk Project
IPO Recordings 1022
Street Date January 3, 2012
NEA JAZZ MASTERS INDUCTION
Tue, Jan 10, 2012 7:30pm. Rose Theater
IPO Recordings is pleased to announce the release of Jimmy Owens – The Monk Project
(IPO Recordings 1022)
Street Date January 3, 2012
Liner notes by Robin Kelley, who wrote the prize-winning
biography: "Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original."
Jimmy Owens – The Monk Project features:
Jimmy Owens – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Wycliffe Gordon - Trombone
Marcus Strickland – Tenor Saxophone
Howard Johnson – Tuba, Baritone Saxophone
Kenny Barron - Piano
Kenny Davis – Bass
Winard Harper – Drums
In addition to the CD Jimmy will be honored as a NEA Jazz Master Tuesday, January
10, 2012 7:30pm at Rose Theater presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Visit NEA Jazz Masters for more info.
And to celebrate of The Monk Project Jimmy will appear at At Dizzy's Club Coca Cola
Jan 3 thg 8, 2012.
Tue-Sun, Jan 3-8
7:30pm & 9:30pm
plus 11:30pm on Fri & Sat
Cover: $30-35
Students: $15 select sets with valid student ID
More info here: http://www.jalc.org/
"This is a brilliant recording."
– Robin D. G. Kelley
Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity
University of Southern California
The author of the prize-winning biography Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of
n American Original (Free Press, 2009)
Trumpeter/flugelhornist JIMMY OWENS gathered together a stellar group of musical
adventurers for The Monk Project (IPO – 1022).... By selecting different tempos
than the original Monk approaches, and with a wealth of exceptional soloing from
all parties, Owens and his band have created a monument to Monk's music.
– Joe Lang Jersey Jazz
A funky "Blue Monk" is a real show-stopper.... This is one of the highlights of
an album filled with strong performances. Owens and the combo play around with rhythms
on the complexities of "Brilliant Corners," and the album follows with a contemplative
(what else would you expect) take on "Reflections." A ten-minute ride through "Epistrophy"
which gives each of the seven a moment to shine, ends the album with style.The Monk
Project is an album to keep your ears open for.
– Jack Goodstein, COMPARATIVE SOUNDS
NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Owens' debut as a leader on IPO features the legendary
trumpeter/flugelhornist leading a stellar septet on a program of his own uniquely
original arrangements of Thelonious Monk compositions that are deeply steeped in
the feeling of the blues. Owens, who has been heard on countless big band and small
group recordings as a virtuoso sideman – including exemplary work on IPO's One More:
Music of Thad Jones, Summary - Music of Thad Jones Vol 2 and With Malice Toward
None: The Music Of Tom McIntosh -- has recorded only sporadically as leader, making
this date a special one. Longtime colleague, fellow NEA Jazz Master, Kenny Barron,
well known for playing Monk's music with the group Sphere, heads the rhythm section
and Robin D. G. Kelley, who wrote the prize-winning biography: Thelonious Monk:
The Life and Times of an American Original contributes learned liner notes, helping
to make this a very special tribute to one of America's greatest composers.
Owens says of his inspiration for this landmark recording, "Thelonious Monk is one
of the world's premier jazz artists and composers. Many of his compositions provide
(even the best) jazz artists with musical challenges, such as the opportunity to
maneuver through difficult chord changes and execute unusual melodies. I chose compositions
that people may have heard before; however, when I arranged the pieces I wanted
to give them a different feeling than how they have been performed in the past.
I also kept in mind the musicians whom I'd chosen for the CD because they each could
emote what I wanted projected when I arranged the music. When I first started to
think about the The Monk Project, it was important for me to work with musicians
who also really understand the blues tradition. Each of the Jazz artists really
delivers on this project.
Joining Owens in his all star septet is an intergenerational roster of some of the
finest, most highly respected players in jazz today. Seated in the all-important
piano chair, Owens' longtime colleague, fellow NEA Jazz Master, Kenny Barron, is
supported in the rhythm section by two young veterans, stalwart bassist Kenny Davis
and drummer extraordinaire Winard Harper. Filling out the leader's lyrical trumpet
and flugelhorn in the front line are former Wynton Marsalis/Jazz at Lincoln Center
Orchestra trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band alumnus,
tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland and the amazing multi-instrumentalist Howard
Johnson on tuba and baritone saxophone. Molding these remarkable musicians' various
individual sounds into an orchestral whole, greater than the sum of its component
parts, Owens' arrangements pays homage not just to Monk's music, but also to the
large group jazz tradition epitomized by the bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie,
and many others.
As highly respected as a educator as he is an instrumentalist, Owens demonstrates
the importance of his role as a pedagogue preserving and advancing the jazz tradition
by showcasing the impressive talents of his former student, Eyal Vilner on the opening
track. The young saxophonist-clarinetist/arranger-composer proves himself more than
worthy of his mentor's generosity, providing the group with a swinging orchestration
of Monk's Bright Mississippi. Opening with an interactive conversation between the
brass section and Strickland's sax, the orchestration underscores the rhythmic drive
of the composer's clever reworking of Sweet Georgia Brown, setting up Owens' driving
virtuosic solo featuring some amazing acrobatic twists. Strickland follows with
carefully constructed multichorus improvisation that leads to a rousing climax that
smoothly segues into a reprise of the opening melody and its clever tag.
Owens arrangement of Well You Needn't (with some well-constructed ideas from student,
Corey Sterling) which features just flugelhorn and rhythm section, slows the usually
uptempo boppish melody to a relaxed loping crawl set over an unhurried piano vamp
around which Harper's drum dance. Interspersing dramatic pauses that invest the
song with a deep bluesy feel not often associated with the piece, the trumpeter
varies tempo in his opening solo, hurrying up to slow down, adding to the orchestration's
narrative nature. Barron follows suit in much the same manner, then accompanying
the leader's extended winding improvisation with sympathetic comping that attests
to their lengthy association.
The whole band returns to dig deep down into the blues on Blue Monk, again taken
at a measured deliberate tempo redolent of a New Orleans funeral march. The feel
gets a little dirtier here, with Owens smearing notes on his opening solo, the band
riffing a Frankie and Johnny-like line adding to the tunes down home ambiance. Wycliffe
Gordon follows, in the tradition of Ellington Jungle Band trombonist Tricky Sam
Nanton, soulfully growling on his plunger muted trombone, succeeded by Strickland,
his wide gritty tone recalling swing era masters Chu Berry and Herschel Evans. Barron
tinkles his notes with air of a late night-early morning barrel house pianist, Davis
and Harper nailing down the slow beat, then pushing to a rousing finale led by Owens
blaring horn.
Monk's Stuffy Turkey is one of the iconoclastic composer's more conventional constructions.
Owens' treatment of the almost poppish melody gives the piece a more esoteric bent
with strident harmonics and interspersion of some kaleidoscopic rhythmic four-bar
extensions for the improvisations. Strickland solos first, charging out of ensemble,
building intelligently on the various facets of the melody and its orchestration.
Kenny Davis then steps into the spotlight, displaying the lyrical virtuosity that
makes him one of the most respected bassists of his generation. Owens, batting cleanup,
has the final say, short and sweet, before calling back the ensemble to close out
with a concluding reading of the melody.
Owens says of Pannonica, "I wanted it to be slower than the original." In bringing
the tempo down from its already leisurely cadence, the trumpeter manages to muster
an even dreamier ambience from one of Monk's most contemplative compositions. The
ensemble sound shines here, supplying suppleness through which the leader's trumpet
alternately brooding and celebratory comes to the fore with sublime clarity. Gordon's
trombone follows in similar fashion with Barron's piano statement offering respite
from the melancholic mood,
Monk originally recordedLet's Cool One in straight ahead 4/4 time. Here Owens changes
the songs time signature to medium fast 3/4 thereby completely transforming the
piece's feel. Strickland steps out front again, followed by Owens, who creatively
improvises his own memorable melodic inventions.
Duke Ellington's It Don't Mean (If It Ain't Got That Swing) features the work of
another Owens' student, Jack Ramsey, who transcribed the arrangement from Monk's
original orchestration of the classic composition. The brass gets to work out on
this one, starting off with Howard Johnson's articulate tuba solo, followed by Owens
clarion trumpet statement and Gordon's brash trombone.
One of Monk's more knotty compositions, Brilliant Corners, is creatively arranged
by Owens, slowing it down from its faster original rendition, into a lazy shuffle
driven by Harper's soulful drumming. Barron is featured here, digging deep into
his blues bag for an extended outing, as is Owens, who too gets down in the idiom.
Gordon and Strickland then converse leading to a collective horn improvisation that
climaxes into a faster reading of the melody to close.
Owens opens Reflections unaccompanied, his bell-like tone clearly ringing out Monk's
thoughtful line, before being joined by first, Barron and then Gordon. Gordon begins
the improvised sections, preceding the leader, who joins him in a measured call-and-response
dialogue, followed by a brief piano interlude before a choral ensemble closing of
the piece.
Epistrophy, one of the jazz cannon's classic closer's appropriately ends the set.
Owens' arrangement completely transforms the piece, maintaining its rhythmic drive
but setting it over a rolling piano part that gives it a more flowing feel. Johnson
is featured on baritone sax on this one, followed by Owens, Strickland and Gordon,
and then Barron, with the septet concluding in a grand finale worthy of Thelonious
himself.
While there have been many, many memorials to the majesty of Monk's music, few have
displayed the originality of Owens' outing. Jimmy Owens – The Monk Project pays
tribute not only to one of jazz history's greatest figures, but to the talents of
the date's creator, one of the music's finest trumpeters, creative arranger/composers,
dedicated educators and stalwart activists, Jimmy Owens, on what is perhaps his
most significant recording to date.
Artist Website: http://www.jimmyowensjazz.com/
National Publicity Campaign Media Contact
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services T: 845-986-1677 E-Mail:
jazzpromo@earthlink.net
National Radio Campaign Contact
Mike Hurzon Tracking Station
trackst@bellsouth.net (954) 463.3518
Label Website:
http://www.iporecordings.com/
IPO is distributed by Allegro
http://www.allegro-music.com/
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