Jessica Williams - In The Key Of Monk (1999)

  • 14 Jun, 15:06
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Artist:
Title: In The Key Of Monk
Year Of Release: 1999
Label: Jazz Focus
Genre: Jazz
Quality: FLAC (tracks + .cue)
Total Time: 63:05 min
Total Size: 252 MB
WebSite:

Tracklist:

01. Bemsha Swing
02. Just a Gigolo
03. Reflections
04. I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams
05. Monk's Mood / Crepuscule with Nellie
06. Monk's Hat
07. San Francisco Holiday
08. I Remember Monk
09. The House That Rouse Built
10. Pannonica
11. Ask Me Now
12. Blues Five Spot

Jessica Williams' career took off during the 1990s with a series of memorable recordings for the Canadian label Jazz Focus, and this solo piano tribute to Thelonious Monk is one of her best live performances. She establishes her own voice right away with a playful approach to "Bemsha Swing," playing part of the introduction while muting the piano's strings with one hand, making use of the full range of the keyboard in the body of the piece. She throws Monk-like twists into her interpretation of one of his favorite standards, "Just a Gigolo." Not satisfied with just covering Monk's best-known works and songs by others that he enjoyed playing, she delves into the pianist's less-frequently played compositions, such as the discordant "San Francisco Holiday" and his loping "Blues at the Five Spot," while also dedicating pieces of her own to Monk (the reflective ballad "I Remember Monk") and his longest-serving sideman, tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse (the alternately tricky and jaunty "The House That Rouse Built"). Highly recommended. -- Ken Dryden