Join us to remember, pay tribute, and learn about one of the founders of bebop, and perhaps less intentionally, of creative, improvised music, and free jazz, the legendary American jazz pianist, composer Thelonious Monk and his important body of work. This engaging afternoon activity will feature a film screening and live performances by revered jazz and creative music practitioners.
Renowned New York soprano saxophonist, composer Sam Newsome will perform solo, interpreting Monk material near and dear to his heart and practice. Hamilton-Toronto based intrepid jazz duo Clock Radio with Daniel Fortin (double bass) & Michael Davidson (vibraphone) also want to express their deep gratitude to Monk by revisiting their takes on his masterpieces.
A film screening of the Clint Eastwood produced, highly entertaining and concise documentary Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser will serve as the educational and historic centrepiece for some discussion and a trio performance will aptly cap off the afternoon.
SAM NEWSOME
Nominated often as Soprano Saxophonist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists’ Association, Sam Newsome experiments to acclaim with the prepared saxophone, wedding it with an already-prodigious knowledge of the instrument’s sonic anatomy. Newsome’s dazzling deployment of multiphonics, slap tonguing, circular breathing and other alternative means of activating the instrument, displays an urgency, insight and dexterity that’s both peerless and wholly personal.
Newsome's avant-garde approach, particularly in the realm of prepared saxophone, has positioned him as a sought-after player in New York's improvised music scene. His innovative voice has resonated in collaborations with notable artists such as Elliot Sharpe, William Parker, Fay Victor, Daniel Carter, Joe Morris, and Dave Liebman. Through his diverse talents and contributions, Sam Newsome continues to shape and enrich the landscape of contemporary jazz.
CLOCK RADIO: FORTIN–DAVIDSON DUO
Vibraphonist, Michael Davidson (Hobson’s Choice, Otterville) and double bassist, Dan Fortin (Myriad3, Bernice) are two of Southern Ontario's most intriguing and in demand performers in jazz. Together they run the adventurous digital imprint Elastic Recordings which in 2019 released the duo's debut album Clock Radio — a witty angular series of compositions by Davidson.
Throughout, there is a most potent quality of in-the-moment awareness, of sonic intelligence – rendered often with gear-shifting subtlety, as rubato contemplation and off-centred walking lines morph into an assertiveness of touch, line and rhythmic drive as crisp as it is fluid. – Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal
Davidson and Fortin are of a single mind throughout Clock Radio, seeking to explore, and then reach beyond, the limits of what their two instruments are capable of when they’re the only two in the room. – Jeff Tamarkin, JazzTimes
FREE admission
Though not mandatory, donations are appreciated by e-transfer to
tix [at] zulapresents [dot] org or in person