Monk’s Mood - Dave Liebman

Mar

18

Monk’s Mood - Dave Liebman

≡ Category: 1990s, Essential, Hard Bop, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

At this late date, I had stopped expecting great things from Dave Liebman. Throughout the 70s, Liebman could be depended on to make one great record after another. The great recordings became less frequent during the 80s and then, in the 90s, they stopped altogether, although he is prolific as ever.

But, from 1999, here’s yet another, and from a very unlikely source, a date consisting entirely of Thelonious Monk covers. Although many have tried, Monk has resisted efforts to effectively interpret him. That is because it is not simply enough to blow over the changes. To effectively interpret Monk, you have to respect the rhythmic and harmonic foundations of his compositions. That Liebman has managed this at all is remarkable enough, but he has done so in a piano-less trio!

Liebman met the challenge by using Bill Dobbins’ transcriptions of Monk’s original recordings as the basis for his arrangements, having the bass carry the harmonic role filled by Monk himself. Liebman was lucky enough to be able to recruit bassist Eddie Gomez, who pulls off this next to impossible task effortlessly. Liebman himself does a miraculous job on the heads and improvisations, somehow imbuing the proceedings with Monk’s spirit to an almost unprecedented degree (equalled only by John Coltrane’s performance with Monk at the Five Spot) and yet finding a way to assert his own very unique musical personality.

Liebman has previously recorded tributes to Coltrane and Miles, and as is typical for him, he has thoughtfully resisted the tempation to choose only the most obvious tunes, mining Monk’s catalog for several underheard gems.

A complete triumph.

(By the way, just because Dave Liebman stopped making great albums in the 1990s doesn’t mean that he stopped being a great player. For evidence, check out this astonishing clip from 1999.)