Graeme
Wilson (tenor sax); Paul Edis (piano)
(Review
by Jerry)
Fifteen
years ago I knew the name, Thelonius Monk, but little else. I was intrigued by
an early Edis composition, I Wish I Were a Monk, from which I learned
that this is very distinctive music which never fails to elicit strong audience
response. In my case, it always made me smile. When I first heard Paul playing ‘Round
Midnight, I realised that I knew one of Monk’s tunes but could not have
told you that. Zoë Gilby’s excellent show, Pannonica,
progressed my learning curve somewhat but as of this morning (I checked!) I
still only needed the fingers of one hand to list the Monk titles I could
remember. None of my memorable five were on today’s programme so I had no idea
what to expect – except that, having often seen these two musicians over the
same fifteen-year period, it would be brilliantly played.
My
ignorance of the set-list is partly excused by the fact that Messrs. Edis and
Wilson had deliberately chosen to record (see Russell’s review from Feb 11) and
to play here, tunes by Monk which are less well-known and seldom performed.
Wilson quipped that for some of Monk’s 72 compositions you could see why they
were seldom performed! That did not apply to any of today’s ten numbers all of
which were memorable enough for me, now, to need the fingers of the other hand
plus a set of toes!
I will try
not to duplicate Russell’s comments – I have to acknowledge the superior wisdom
of one who can even whistle Monk tunes never mind merely reciting the titles –
but here are some random observations. Watching a live performance so close
that one can see the hands on the keyboard and the fingers on the sax
emphasises the complexity of the music and the dexterity of the players as well
as revealing the almost intuitive closeness they have developed over the years
which enables them to synchronise helter-skelter stuff such as Four in One or
Trinkle Tinkle. After the latter, Edis commented to the audience that it
was tough to play on piano but harder still on sax so extra applause for Graeme
Wilson on that one. Going off on a tangent, I really enjoyed the varied endings
to today’s ten tunes: is that down to Monk as composer or to our musicians?
I had to
wonder why Monk put the “ugly” in Ugly Beauty – a dreamy, melodic number
which, along with Jackie-ing and Monk’s Mood, showed that our
musicians were just as good interpreting the slower tunes as well as the more
quirky and quixotic ones. Their opening for San Fransisco Holiday (Worry
Later) had Edis with his head in the piano as if to smash it (as one of
Pannonica’s guests thought Monk was doing) and Wilson making extraordinary
clicking noises with his sax: this was to attempt to replicate the drummer’s
opening on the original recording. It certainly got the attention of the
audience! Hornin’ In contained more of what my scribbled notes recorded
as “crazy stuff” (in an entirely good way) and ended with trilling piano and
vibrato sax which took me back to my original reaction to that tribute piece of
Paul’s – great amusement.
The entire
audience (85 Monk fans, no less) was amused and richly entertained right
through to the growling sax and wonderful stride piano of Epistrophy – a
tune which, apparently, I ought to have known as it was always Monk’s closing
number.
The album, Big
as a Mountain, Small as a Pin is available to stream and download from
Itunes, Apple Music, Spotify etc. On the evidence of this gig, it is highly
recommended.
Jerry
1 comment :
We weren't disappointed, it truly was brilliant. Thank you Paul and Graeme 🎶
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