Biography
Monk's Music Trio operates as an acoustic hard bop ensemble rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area and confines its repertoire strictly to the pieces written by pianist Thelonious Monk, born October 10, 1917, and deceased February 17, 1982. Earlier repertory efforts limited to Monk material had already appeared, notably the New York City quartet School Days that soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and trombonist Roswell Rudd directed together between 1961 and 1964. Sphere surfaced in 1982 initially as a Monk tribute unit yet later incorporated numerous compositions by other writers and disbanded in 1988 after the death of tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, who had performed with Monk for many years. Monk's considerable productivity as a composer has kept the idea of an exclusive focus viable. The trio sets itself apart by drawing from an extensive cross-section of Monk's catalog rather than restricting itself to familiar standards such as "Round Midnight," which producer Orrin Keepnews labeled "the national anthem of jazz," "Well, You Needn't," "Epistrophy," and "In Walked Bud." Its recordings include the well-documented pieces "Ask Me Now," "Rhythm-a-Ning," and "Pannonica," each previously committed to disc many times, alongside rarer items such as "Stuffy Turkey," "Coming on the Hudson," "Boo Boo's Birthday," "Work," and "Two Timer," which Monk himself never recorded; the first version surfaced on the 1997 album Monk on Monk by his son, pianist T.S. Monk. In the late 1990s veteran drummer Chuck Bernstein contacted pianist Si Perkoff, widely regarded as a leading Monk authority in Bay Area jazz circles, to assemble a piano trio devoted solely to Monk material; Perkoff's approach, shaped by Monk along with Bud Powell and Horace Silver, proved compatible with the venture. Acoustic bassist Frank Passantino served in the original configuration before departing and yielding the chair to Bay Area native Sam Bevan. The group released its first album, Harmony of Odd Numbers, on the CMB label in 2003, followed by the 2004 sophomore effort Think of One on the same imprint.
Albums
