Ask me Now

After decades of self-exile, pianist/composer/bandleader Abdullah Ibrahim finally had an opportunity to return to his native South Africa in the early 1990s. This solo CD was recorded at Cape Town and has seven of his themes, all of which reflect his heritage; in addition, Ibrahim performs Thelonious Monk's "Ask Me Now." An excellent effort that must have been an emotional experience for the unique and masterful Abdullah Ibrahim.

Thelonious Monk - Solo Monk (1965) {2013 Columbia-Sony Music Japan Blu-Spec CD2 SICP-30247}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 369 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 163 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 119 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964-65, 2013 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP-30247
Jazz / Bop / Post Bebop / Modal Music / Piano

Reissue. The latest remastering. Features the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD2 format. Bonus tracks. Monk was a perfectionist not always well-understood by the public or even the musicians of his day. All his other recordings involve other musicians with whom he must interact with varying results. This sometimes makes it difficult to hear Monk as himself rather than as an ensemble player. But this recording gives us a great window into Monk's musical soul unencumbered with any exogenous distractions. One gets the feeling that Monk is playing for himself with no one else in the room. Production values are nil: just Monk and a piano in a bare studio. It is a privelege to be able to eavesdrop on his private explorations of themes of, presumably, his own choosing. Having bonus tracks with 'duplicate' songs is a genuine positive; it allows you to hear Monk's differing approaches to the same material.

Detroit-bred trumpeter & composer Anthony Stanco is a 5th generation Italian-American, steeped in the tenets of Black American Music: blues, bebop, and the progressive fire that fuels modern jazz. In his sound, the guidance of Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, and Miles Davis, as well as his close mentors Marcus Belgrave and Rodney Whitaker, is evident and clearly celebated. Full of joyous, vibrant discoveries, "Stanco's Time" announces not only a trumpeter entering his primetime, but also suggests the idea of traveling back to New York's 52nd Street circa 1955, with fresh, fiery sounds billowing out of clubs, marking a monumental cultural revolution. Along with his quintet - guitarist Randy Napoleon, pianist Xavier Davis, Rodney Whitaker on bass and drummer Joe Farnsworth - Stanco deftly avoids the trap of repertory imitation and hero worship by imbuing his originals and arrangements with life, fire and relevancy. "… The emotional source of each of Stanco's tracks is always something incredible that speaks to places we've all been, a place we've all shared."