Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk
On this recording, Andy Summers, formerly of the pop group thePolice, translates the angular and quirky compositions of jazz pioneerThelonious Sphere Monkinto a wide variety of musical settings. Buoyed by drummers Peter Erskine and Bernie Dresel, electric-acoustic bassist Dave Carpenter, and organistJoey de Francescos, Summers's spare, ghostly guitar--a delicious combination ofJim Hall's timbre andPat Martino's fluency--swings in a straight-ahead take on the title track, the ballad "Ugly Beauty," and "Monk's Dream"--with Summers's sly "Jeepers Creepers" quote. Erskine lays down a danceable New Orleans second-line beat on "Hackensack," tinged by the tenor sax-trumpet frontline of Steve Tavaglione and Walt Fowler, and "Bemsha Swing" moves to an Afro-Caribbean beat. Summers's country twang imbues the strip tease-tempoed "Brilliant Corners" and "Think of One," which rings with de Francesco's churchy organ solo; "Shuffle Boil" is recast in "Bitches Brew" fashion with Fowler's Milesian musings; and "Light Blue" and "Rhythm-A-Ning" melds Summers's Appalachian banjo with Tavaglione's oblique clarinet in an avant-garde landscape. Summers and company stick to the lullaby melody of "Boo Boo's Birthday," and Summers's intro sets up the moody cabaret-style vocal by fellow PolicemanStingon "'Round Midnight." "Ruby My Dear" highlights the guitarist in a folksy, solo spotlight and closes this well-traveled tribute.--Eugene Holley Jr.