Thelonious Monk Festival Jazz@Lincoln Center - New York City Article

Thelonious Monk Festival
Jazz at Lincoln Center (all three venues)
Rose Hall
Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor, (212) 721 6500
Thursday (June 1) through Sunday (June 4)

The music and innovations of Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) would be worth celebrating in any season, and especially so in his centennial year. Considering that Monk was such an unconventional figure, in both the content of his compositions and the overall arch of his career, it’s only fitting that this multipart celebration should take unexpected forms with a wide range of different ensembles.
The centerpiece of the four-day festival is the big concert in the big hall (Rose Theater), in which Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra play new big band arrangements. Playing Monk’s music in orchestral format is always a dodgy proposition, and the composer himself only rarely worked in that form. But if done right, and the melodies are orchestrated by arranger-musicians who understand the complex nuances of Monk’s melodies, including what Kevin Whitehead described as his unexpected “trapdoor silences,” the results can be amazing. That the JALCO is adding two special international guests, flautist Baqir Abbas (of the Pakistani Sachal Jazz Ensemble) and Brazilian bandolim virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda is a positive sign that they’re planning to recast some of Monk’s music in the light of world music. (Thursday-Saturday)
The side events, however, are hardly secondary. In the Appel Room, two very young piano giants, Sullivan Fortner and the even younger Joey Alexander, are offering their own highly personal interpretations of iconic Thelonian masterpieces. In Dizzy’s there are Monk-centric sets by guitarist Gabe Schnider and bassist Russell Hall. Since Monk only wrote 70 or so known compositions - his influence on the subsequent history of jazz might seem to be in inverse ratio to his productivity - this extended festival should be able to do the unique Thelonious justice and cover nearly all of them.

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