Zoe
Gilby, vocals, Andy Champion, bass and Paul Edis, Piano.
(Review/photo by Jerry)
Pannonica is Zoe Gilby’s tribute to the music of Thelonius Monk
(via Carmen McRae i.e. Monk with lyrics). I’d not seen the show before but was
glad I caught this abbreviated version today as it was a real treat: nine Monk
tunes interspersed with anecdotes and explanations and, in passing, a top-notch
impersonation of Graeme Wilson! I look forward to seeing the full programme
sometime soon.
Many
of the lyrics were penned by Jon Hendricks including the zingy opener Rhythm-a-ning
and the three tunes which followed. Pannonica, re-titled with lyrics,
became Little Butterfly – a beautiful love song in which I’m sure the
lyrics captured Monk’s feelings:
Like the lovely flowers / I wait for hours Just to feel that touch / The touch
that I love so much
One day she'll flutter by I'll hold out my hand / And capture my butterfly.
One day she'll flutter by I'll hold out my hand / And capture my butterfly.
Monk’s Dream,
or Man, That’s A Dream featured some scat and a nice bass solo
and Reflections, or Looking Back had a lovely piano
finish. The line: “Thank God I’m a woman who knows” sounded like Zoe
justifiably defending her choice of material!
Think of One,
with lyrics by a Dutch vocalist, became When I Think of One. I’m
not sure how the lyrics reflect the original unless it was about insecure love:
When I think of one, I think of you / When you think of one, you think of
who? There was a groovy piano solo and the final “who” sounded like a Tawny
Owl in full cry.
I Mean You, with
lyrics by Coleman Hawkins and Hendricks featured a great bass solo and was as
near to “catchy” as Monk gets. Ugly Beauty, with lyrics by Mike
Ferro, became And Still We Dream – a beautiful ballad / waltz
about the end of a love affair. I like the way rhymes like “charming /
alarming” crop up in Ferro’s lyrics echoing the oxymoronic original title.
My two
favourites on the day were Blue Monk/Monkery’s the Blues and Brilliant
Corners When I’m Alone. The latter was amazing, musically – so
complex that Monk’s band in 1956 (including Sonny Rollins), after no fewer than
25 takes, gave up and an edited “composite” had to go on the album. Today’s
musicians were undeterred and the audience whooped their approval. Blue
Monk was the closing number and Edis and Champion, who had solo-ed
brilliantly throughout, saved their best till last and Zoe, whose vocals had
been mesmerising elsewhere was really at home on this “blue highway”. I
loved the lyrics, too – Abbey Lincoln, I believe:
Finding your one Place
in the sun, Doesn't come the easy way Shallow or deep, Nothing is cheap,
Measured by the dues you pay..
The
lyrics perfectly fitted the tune – but not the occasion: I paid £4 and this was
worth SO much more. I loved every
minute!
Jerry
An excellent gig. I wasn't sure I liked Thelonius Monk's music until then ...
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