Standard Time 4: Marsalis Plays Monk
On this 1994 recording, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and trombonist Wycliffe Gordon arrange the music of Thelonious Monk in a warm and witty neoclassic setting that typifies Marsalis's tradition-in-transition approach to jazz. Joining Marsalis and Gordon are drummer Herlin Riley, bassists Reginald Veal and Ben Wolfe, tenor saxophonists Walter Blanding andVictor Goines, Wess Anderson on alto and soprano sax, and pianist Eric Reed.Monk's unconventionally structured blues and riff-based compositions are an important part of the jazz canon and Marsalis and company rise to the task of interpreting them. The 4/4 opener, "Thelonious," features a parade-style, stop-time intro with Anderson's ornithological,Charlie Parker-inspired tones, and Marsalis's burnished brass. The tap-dance feel of "Evidence" is maintained courtesy of the rhythm section, while the whimsical "We See" swings with Anderson's soprano sax and Reed's piano dancing on the melody. "Brake's Sake," "Green Chimneys," and "Worry Later" are solidly set in Riley's Congo Square-Latin-tinged drum work, Marsalis's laughing wah-wah sounds and clarion open horn solos, and Goines's towering tenor. A boppish horn line sets off "Four in One" and "Brilliant Corners" and is brilliantly decoded, while Marsalis's tune "In Walked Monk" (a play on Monk's "In Walked Bud") is reminiscent ofTadd Dameron's ensemble sound. The ballads include the dirgelike "Monk's Mood," with Marsalis's hazy mute, and the twilight-toned "Reflections." On "Ugly Beauty" Marsalis duets with Reed, who throughout this recording synthesizes Monk's dark tonal clusters and stride-piano techniques into his own fleet-fingered keyboard conception.--Eugene Holley Jr.