ANDY SUMMERS
Green Chimneys - The Music Of Thelonius Monk
(RCA Victor)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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I haven't paid a great deal of attention to guitarist Andy Summers' post-Police work, so I wasn't thoroughly prepared to appreciate this album devoted to the music of Thelonius Monk as much as I did after careful listening. It turns out that he's spent most of the last several years exploring the work of Monk, Mingus, Wayne Shorter and other jazz notables. It's an expression of a life long appreciation of the form. He just had to get a few multi-platinum pop albums out of the way first, I guess.

Summers love affair with Monk started when he was in his teens, seeing the jazz giant for the first time at the tender age of 16. Summers' conception of the music isn't locked into a time warp of tradition, though. Rather than making a straight tribute full of recycled arrangements, he gives the music some fresh interpretations. Some of those interpretation work better than others, of course. There are moments when he slips into a fusion groove that spoils the nuances of Monk's compositions, but those moments are few, and even then he deserves points for searching for new avenues of interpretation for music that's too often treated as a set of fragile museum pieces that must not be disturbed.

I wasn't prepared to particularly enjoy his old bandmate Sting's vocal on "'Round Midnight," either, and this time my instincts proved more accurate. Summers saves the track with his own guitar work, but I'm just not sold on the notion of Sting the jazz singer, though he certainly gets calls to be just that. Your mileage may vary.

Altogether, this is a solid effort with a few glitches that result from pushing the envelope just past its limits, which is better than a good deal of the instrumental pablum that's passed off as jazz these days. If either Andy Summers or Thelonius Monk holds a position of importance in your musical pantheon, it's certainly worth checking out Green Chimneys.

Track List:

Green Chimneys * Hackensack * Brilliant Corners * Monk's Dream * 'Round Midnight * Bemsha Swing * Shuffle Boil * Boo Boo's Birthday * Evidence * Ugly Beauty * Think Of One * Light Blue/Rhythm-a-ning * Ruby My Dear

© 1999 - Shaun Dale