The TS Monk Sextet's highly anticipated live album feature seven songs that are characterised by the steady pulse and groove that are synonymous with the leader.
Monk, also known as "Toot", leads his sextet with an innovative and dynamic approach. Since 1992, the drummer has worked exclusively with his co-players, making the sound of the sextet incredibly tight. When they roll out their arsenal, they soar and swing, and are indeed exciting to hear. In that regard, it might be quite surprising to learn that this is Monk's very first live album!
The songs are taken from two performances at two similar jazz rooms over a two-year period; three are from "Harlem's Jazz Shrines Festival: Jazzmobile presents Minton's Playhouse" at Ginny's Supper Club on May 7, 2014, while others were recorded at Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland on April 24, 2016.
Monk's sextet consists of some of the best jazz musicians in the business, each bringing something special to the table. Willie Williams on tenor saxophone is the original member of the sextet, who came up under the tutelage of Grover Washington, Jr. Additionally, we have the Chicago native, Kenny Davis on bass, who has worked with notables such as Cassandra Wilson and Kevin Eubanks, trumpeter Josh Evans, multi-reedist Patience Higgins and pianist and composer Helen Sung, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow.
Drummer, percussionist, composer, producer and bandleader, T. S. Monk - son of the legendary pianist Thelonious Monk - has taken his place in the pantheon of jazz royalty, to which he was born. The swing is DNA inherited and absorbed in this master drummer's persona. Monk spent the late '70s and '80s in various R&B groups, scoring his biggest hit Bon Bon Vie (Gimme the Good Life) in 1982, but by the 1990's he decided to return to his jazz roots.
