Pianist, Composer and Arranger John Beasley has released his third record with his MONK'estra, a big band augmented by some big Jazz names that takes on the canon of Thelonius Monk and others, as well as playing original compositions. On his latest release on Mack Avenue, MONK'estra Plays John Beasley, the MONK'estra is joined by players including Joey DeFrancesco, John Patitucci, Vinny Colaiuta and Hubert Laws as they play music from Monk, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington.
If you love Modern Jazz that echoes the sounds of the giants of yesterday with a 21st Century take, dig into John Beasley's MONK'estra. The late Jay Edwards turned me on to John Beasley, and we'll be playing the MONK'estra on Mainstream and Modern, Sunday nights 9pm until around midnight, exclusively on Jazz 91.9 WCLK.