With: Don Cherry (trumpet), Roswell Rudd (trombone), Steve Lacy (soprano saxophone), Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone), Mal Waldron (piano), Richard Davis (bass), Ed Blackwell (drums)
Record date: November 1, 1981
Autumn 1981, Mal was back in the US for the second time that year. He was there to record his last engagement for Enja for some 30 years called 'What it Is' but also appeared on a Monk tribute concert. The concert was to be played all day long with a afternoon set and an evening set. It presented an all-star line-up with musicians who were all more or less affiliated with the piano grand master. Some by direct connection like Rouse and others trough the influence Monk had on them. In the afternoon the piano was to be played by the great Muhal Richard Abrams and Barry Harris. The evening program was filled in by Anthony Davis for the first set and Mal Waldron for the second. As this is a Mal blog I will only review his part but I could say for the rest of the music: it's worth every penny!
Mal's set starts with a solo version of 'Round Midnight. A modest tribute to one of his own big influences, Mal doesn't play one note too much. And though Mal was influenced by Monk he really is something completely different. Following his solo tribute are two duets with Lacy. Probably inspired and driven by the Dreher success they wanted to present their ideas to an American audience. There is some nice playing overall but it misses some of the chemistry there usually is between the two. I cannot exactly lay my finger on what is causing it but you should hear it for yourself. Closing up are three Monk classics played by the entire band of jazz superstars. Where Ben Riley was playing drums on the Anthony Davis set, Ed Blackwell plays them here. And it's nice to hear some of the work that was to come as both Rouse and Blackwell would return in Waldron's band. 'Friday the 15th' is the longest piece. It starts of with a nice and solid solo by Charlie Rouse followed by some great playing by Cherry. Nice to hear him duelling up with Blackwell introducing a slight Ornette Coleman feel here and there despite the different nature of the music. Cherry's playing has more in common with Monk than one might actually think. The dissonants, the off/after beat playing and the fast riddles of notes. He suites very good for a Monk tribute band. Roswell's muted trombone solo represents a lot of Monk too, playing around one or three notes for a while.
The closing 2 tunes are two very Monkish themes. Rhythm a Ning swings very, very hard thanks to Davis' very tight bass playing and Blackwell's incredible polyrhytmic drum playing. Rouse is in prime form with one of his typical solo's that might have well could have been recorded with Monk himself. Epistrophy is the true highlight of the album with it's sudden speed changes, Richard Davis' hard bowing bass, Charlie Rouse's soloing on it and Lacy playing all kinds of patterns in the background.
The first release of this music was on the Japanese DIW label and contained all four sets. I own the Koch release that is split up in the Abrams/Harris set as vol.1 and the Davis/Waldorn set as vol.2. I only have vol.2. This is some great and interesting music but looking at the big names, one could expect a little more. This is not an album with revolutionary sounds or ideas. It's more of a jam session. A great, but not essential jam session. If you love Monk, you should check it out for sure.
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