John Beasley's "MONK+MONK'estra," A Cinematic Concert

To Premiere at Walt Disney Concert Hall

 

Plus Geri Allen's Erroll Garner Project: Concert by the Sea

 

Friday, March 9, 2018, at 8 PM

 

WHAT:       

 

The world premiere of John Beasley's MONK+MONK'estra, a unique cinematic concert performance featuring multi-Grammy®-nominated big band MONK'estra, rare film footage of Thelonious Monk, and brilliant vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, will take place on Friday, March 9, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

 

Versatile pianist-composer and visionary arranger John Beasley realized a long-held dream by creating MONK'estra, a 15-piece jazz big band presenting an inventive rethinking of the legendary 20th-century composer Thelonious Monk's classic compositions. Now, Beasley will realize another dream with the debut of MONK+MONK'estra, a concert experience that brings Monk to "perform" on stage through rare footage of the musician captured in 1968 by documentary filmmakers Blackwood Productions. The concert will showcase MONK'estra's 21st-century arrangements featuring the legendary pianist's solos, and some tunes accompanied by Grammy®-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater.

 

Beasley has earned four Grammy® nominations for MONK'estra Vol. 1 (2016) and MONK'estra Vol. 2 (2017), both released on Mack Avenue Records. Since the first album, Beasley has performed this music with a collective of artists in concert halls, clubs, and festivals spanning the United States and Europe, to wide critical acclaim.

 

Opening the evening will be an homage to one of the most popular albums in jazz history, pianist Erroll Garner's Concert by the Sea - a passion project of the late Geri Allen. Some of today's most exciting jazz pianists - Gerald Clayton, Helen Sung and Christian Sands - along with an all-star rhythm section of Victor Lewis, Russell Malone and Darek Oles, reimagine such classics as "April in Paris," "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "Autumn Leaves" and many more.

 

The LA Phil has also partnered with Leimert Park Village Book Fair to pay homage to Thelonious Monk. A pre-concert Jazz Book Pop-Up Lounge will take place in BP Hall starting at 7 PM, featuring a special display of jazz books and related memorabilia, and a complimentary drink in honor of Monk's 1951 classic "Straight, No Chaser."

 

WHO:

 

John Beasley's MONK+MONK'estra

Dee Dee Bridgewater, special guest

 

Erroll Garner's Concert by the Sea

Gerald Clayton, piano

Christian Sands, piano

Helen Sung, piano

Victor Lewis, drums

Russell Malone, guitar

Darek Oles, bass

 

For full artist biographies, please visit LAPhil.com

 

WHEN:

 

Friday, March 9, 2018, at 8:00 PM

 

WHERE:

 

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

 

TICKETS:   

 

Tickets are available for purchase at LAPhil.com, in person at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, or by phone at 323.850.2000.