PAPATAMUS REDUX

OYSTERTONES 005  (RELEASED NOVEMBER 22, 2024))

Would Thelonius Monk like the way in which the Jamie Saft Trio interprets ten of his classic tunes and one standard? I’ll let Monk answer that — “The only cats worth anything are the cats that take chances.” Chances are exactly what pianist Jamie Saft, bassist Bradley Christopher Jones and drummer Hamid Drake take on Plays Monk. It is obvious that each player has absorbed the music of Monk yet approaches it in their own unique way. Saft’s purposeful hesitancy in his note selection in pure Monk. Yet, he does not merely copy Monk. His unique strong single note attacks, octave stabs, dissonant runs, quirky stride and colorful comping suggest the direction in which Monk may have gone had he not died in 1982 at the age of 64. Although Jones’ solos are firmly grounded on the beauty of Monk’s melodies, he also understands the harmonic and rhythmic complexity of the compositions. His walking bass line is ideal for “Children’s Song,” a lesser-known Monk tune based on “Nick Knack Paddy Whack,” and when Jones takes the lead on tunes such as “Monk’s Mood,” he takes it on in true Charlie Rouse fashion — strong and declarative. Drummer Hamid Drake is constantly shifting from straight-ahead drumming to more of a Han Bennink approach of punctuating the melodies with an array of expertly placed drum rolls, cymbal splashes and brush strokes. Drake kicks off the opening track — “Raise Four” — with a nearly two-minute drum solo before launching into the familiar rhythmic pattern of that Monk classic. Whether the trio is interpreting ballads such as “Ruby My Dear” or up tempo swingers such as “Coming on the the Hudson,” they do it with a sense of reverence and respect for Monk’s music, More importantly, they are not afraid to take chances like on the only non-Monk tune on the session — “Everything Happens to Me.” Saft begins the tune with the melody while Jones and Drake approach the tune with a much more freer approach. Somehow, they all manage to come together for the closing line of the tune. The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Monk is loaded with the type of players Monk would dig — cats that take chances. What better praise than that?

BOTTOM LINE:  The star of Jamie Saft Trio Plays Monk is not the Monk-inspired playing of pianist Saft. It’s not the melodic and deep tones of bassist Bradley Christopher Jones. Nor is the inventive drumming of Hamid Drake.  The real star of this session is the tunes, tunes written by Thelonius Monk more than 70 years ago that still provide a foundation for these musicians to explore in new and creative ways.