Songs in the Key of Monk With Lyric Latin Touches

Songs in the Key of Monk With Lyric Latin Touches

By PETER KEEPNEWS
Published: November 23, 2008
Twelve years ago the Panamanian jazz pianist Danilo Pérez recorded an album whose title, “Panamonk,” neatly summed up its concept and limitations. It was made up primarily of compositions by Thelonious Monk, delivered with a Latin American inflection. Mr. Pérez’s approach was refreshing in its irreverence: rather than try to be as faithful as possible to Monk’s distinctive rhythms and harmonies, he used Monk’s vision as a jumping-off point for his own individuality as an improviser. But “Panamonk” at times skated dangerously close to glib Monk-goes-Latin gimmickry.

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Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

Some fun among the lyricism: From left, Ben Street, Danilo Pérez and Adam Cruz performing at the Allen Room.

Mr. Pérez is a smarter and more imaginative musician today than in 1996. His long tenure in the quartet of the relentlessly adventurous saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, who likes to keep his sidemen on their toes, has surely contributed to his artistic growth. Leading a trio at the Allen Room as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s weekend-long Monk celebration, Mr. Pérez revisited some of the “Panamonk” repertory and played a few other Monk compositions as well. In the first of his two sets on Saturday night (he also performed twice on Friday) he was often exhilarating, sometimes moving and rarely glib or gimmicky.

Only a few of the nine numbers, six of them written by Monk, received the full-on Latin treatment. And even on those, despite fiery polyrhythmic support from the bassist Ben Street and the drummer Adam Cruz, Mr. Pérez steered clear of the overheated passion that can infect jazz musicians trying to fit a stereotypical idea of Latin. The essence of his performance was not heat but restrained, assured lyricism.

The slower and more ruminative pieces were among the highlights of the set. In his unaccompanied interpretation of “ ’Round Midnight,” whose emotional intensity has tempted many a good musician to lapse into melodrama, Mr. Pérez was introspective without being maudlin or sentimental. With Mr. Street and Mr. Cruz providing sensitive counterpoint, he was just as effective assaying “Ask Me Now,” a lesser-known but equally beautiful Monk ballad.

If Mr. Pérez rarely aped Monk’s style directly — his playing was far more legato, his lines far more elaborate — he often evoked Monk’s playful spirit. During Mr. Cruz’s solo on “Think of One,” one of the few Monk tunes to receive the no-holds-barred Afro-Cuban treatment, Mr. Pérez got up from the piano bench, walked over to the drum kit and provided spontaneous percussion accompaniment. And he brought the song, and the set, to a joyful conclusion with an overtly Monkian gesture: a dissonant cluster of notes, played loudly and emphatically with his right elbow.