Brilliant Corners

In 1998 the jazz quartet Brilliant Corners issued its debut recording, arriving well after a British rock outfit sharing that exact name had already disbanded. Both groups took their title from a Thelonious Monk composition long regarded as especially demanding on account of its frequent tempo shifts. Among the quartet’s selections, the inviting “Struttin’ With Some Barbequed Tofu” signals—at least through its name—shifts that have occurred in the New Orleans jazz world across recent decades. Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis of Brilliant Corners composed the piece. Several musicians from the group have additionally documented work in the Dixieland idiom, among them guitarist David W. Black.