Jazz 91.9 WCLK listeners know John Beasley well, as keyboardist on sides and tours with Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, George Duke, Marcus Miller and Stanley Clarke among others. He's been through the station more than a time or two. In recent years he has led a tight big band he calls the MONK'estra, playing and arranging variations on songs from the master of variation himself Thelonius Monk.
The latest effort on Mack Avenue Records is John Beasley Presents MONK'estra vol. 2 and is just as tasty as the first volume from 2016. You can hear cuts from MONK'estra vol. 2 at various times on WCLK, in particular from 10:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. on Serenade To The City and also on Jazz Tones with Jay Edwards, Sundays from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.