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An Appreciation, Sam Miltich quartet

Last week a friend, a jazz immersive, a fanatic said:  "I hate perfection.  It is so boring."  I too appreciate "wabi-sabi" the Japanese aesthetic that holds that beauty is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete - as demonstrated by Furuya Nobuko, an Ikebana specialist, when she pointed out the importance of a faded bloom in a stunning flower arrangement in the entry of our home in a Tokyo suburb.  My friend is deep into experimental improvised music that if not exactly abhorring standards, certainly thrives on avoiding them.   I like that music too; see my pieces on events at the Khyber Pass Thursday night series.

There are of course standards and "Jazz Standards" and then there are Thelonious Monk Standards.  Monk was and is my first love in jazz.

On July 2, at The Dakota, Sam Miltich, electric guitar, lead a quartet of veterans (with Jay Epstein, drums, Dave Karr, tenor, Gordy Johnson, bass) through two supremely fun Monk-dominated sets, with several Thelonious-inspired Miltich originals added.  So this listener, mad for Monk, heard more live Monk music than ever before and had a grand experience, thanks to these Minnesota musicians.

Six decades after their composition and first performance as bebop revolts, tunes such as  Hackensack,  Evidence, Pannonica, and Bolivar Blues may approach a perfection of satisfied expectations when played by these talented and seasoned veteran musicians, but they are not boring.

Miltich didn't try to replicate Monk's piano but his Jim Hall-influenced playing worked well in all the tunes.  Karr's tenor often had the generous tone of Charlie Rouse found on Monk's recordings from the early 60s.  Johnson and Epstein soloed with verve and sophistication as leads were passed around in each of the pieces. Mancini and Mercer's Days of Wine and Roses could sometimes sound cliched, I suppose, but in this fun and well-played context it added an unexpected touch of melancholy. Miltich channeled Monk (and copied riffs and titles) in his compositions Crepuscule with Katie and Well You Must  - honoring of course the master's Crepuscule with Nellie and Well You Needn't. 
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