Two recent releasesl, how much the music of Charles Mingus and Thelonius Monk still has to offer the creativity and expressive impulses of contemporary musicians.
“Mingus Revisited” by the duo Giovanni Maier and Matteo Alfonso and “Plays Monk” by Koro Almost Brass, an all-wind group featuring Fulvio Sigurtà on trumpet, Cristiano Arcelli on alto saxophone, Massimo Morganti on trombone, Glauco Benedetti on tuba, and Giovanni Hoffer on French horn, are united not only by their release date but also by the idea of tackling such well-known and influential repertoire with an innovative approach that, from those foundations familiar to all jazz musicians, produces even more new music.
The piano and bass duo of Alfonso and Maier reunite a decade after the release of “Naked Songs,” published by Palomar, the label of the bassist and member of Enten Eller and Eternal Love, applying their so-called “low-resolution” treatment to nine songs, both famous and lesser-known, by the Nogales-born bassist. The result is “what remains of the masterpieces of the great African-American composer and bassist after the harmonic screening we subjected them to. The strategy with which we decided to personalize his repertoire is, in fact, the same one Mingus adopted in the original version of the piece “Pithecantropus Erectus”: after a theme that unfolds through several harmonically diverse sections, the improvisation is developed on a very simple and sparse harmonic structure, consisting of just a few bars. This approach allows for greater freedom of action and the possibility of “escape” from a traditional musical context.”
A formula that successfully combines a respectful and admiring gaze for the original material with the great creative and communicative ability of the two musicians, who leave no room for larger ensembles or diverse instrumental contexts.
The music soars free and powerful from the first notes of “Dizzy Moods,” with the agile piano, the commanding double bass, and their shared expressive power playing with the dimension of time, introducing some subtle deviations into the song’s bluesy progression.
This interpretative choice characterizes the entire following program, from the most famous pieces like “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love,” rendered in a fascinatingly essential and unpretentious manner, or “Orange Was the Color…”, with the theme entrusted to the bow and enhanced by a pathos-filled dialogue between the two instruments, to lesser-known pieces like “Nouroog,” with its crystalline lyricism, or the closing “Eclipse,” shot through with a hint of melancholy.
The swinging dynamism of “East Coasting” and “Jump Monk” (the latter featuring an expansive double bass solo), a moderate, sometimes emergent free-spirited drive (“Celia”), and the dizzying motif with Monk-esque inserts of “Free Cell Block F, Tis Nazi U.S.A.”, which showcases Alfonso’s stylistic versatility, contribute to the overall composition.
A duo that entertains and excites, from whom we hope to hear more good news soon.
To introduce their first album, dedicated to the music of Thelonious Monk, Koro Almost Brass relied on the words of one of the most authoritative jazz scholars, Stefano Zenni, who describes the process in the liner notes as follows: “Monk’s music is made of fragments. It’s not a whole music that, once shattered, remains destroyed. Instead, it’s a music that is born fragmented; each individual piece is made up of many separate fragments, which sometimes resonate distantly and other times are somehow connected. This group—and arranger Cristiano Arcelli in particular—has understood that Monk’s constellations are mobile: the fragments can be detached and recomposed, moved and connected differently, without compromising the identity of the compositions.”
Indeed, this process of disassembly and reassembly—made easier by the very nature of the quintet, thanks to its interchangeable roles—reveals new perspectives, illuminates unseen angles, and connects similar details. Monk’s music thus emerges recomposed and renewed, but at the same time confirmed in its deepest nature.
In keeping with the logic of the operation, original treatments of great classics such as “Bemsha Swing,” literally reconstructed and featuring a new coda; “Epistrophy,” with its irresistible, wind-driven rhythm; and “Worry Later,” rendered in a wide range of variations that even verge on symphonic dimension.
“Reflections” and “Round Midnight” represent the more lyrical side of the repertoire, highlighting the sensitivity of the soloists, particularly Arcelli’s saxophone, Sigurtà’s trumpet, and Hoffer’s horn, which in the second piece cuts through the improvised section with a solo before the ecstatic reprise of the theme.
The closing performance features the branching arrangement of “In Walked Bud” and a collective, cubist reading of “Rhythm A Ning.”
A unique journey into Monk’s music that, thanks to the preparation and sensitivity of its participants, also offers broad insights into different styles and eras, creating a panorama that ideally encompasses the entire history of jazz.
Koro Almost Brass live with Monk in a reading of “Evidence” not included on the CD.
