T.S. Monk
A deft but underrated drummer in his own right, T.S. Monk has long worked in the shadow of his late father, legendary composer and pianist Thelonious Monk. Monk on Monk—a tribute to Thelonious's 80th-birthday year—finds the composer's only son leading an all-star cast through nine of his dad's lesser-known tunes. The idea here was to bring in a handful of the senior Monk's contemporaries—Jimmy Heath on sax, Ron Carter on bass—let them mix it up with irreverent young wild cards like Roy Hargrove on flügelhorn and shore it all up with Monk Jr.'s beats. Loaded as it is with heavy hitters, Monk on Monk occasionally recaptures some of the elder Monk's swing but never quite hits it out of the park. It often feels more like a showcase than a record. (N2K)
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