The best music, lately, seems to come from the smaller labels that are working harder. One is Hyena Records, the NYC establishment that hosts its own and subsidiary material--wanting, it seems, to be a generator of jazz in the same way Palmetto is. The difference is the eclectic assortment.
A new label led by The Masked Announcer, Joel Dorn, called Thelonious Records has begun through Hyena, which has released two posthumous live recordings of Monk's quartet of the early '60's. The latest one, Monk 'Round the World, is a collection of material recorded in the U.S. and Europe, along with a DVD of three tunes recorded on film (off a TV tape?) at a club in London. Most of the music has made appearances in several venues over the past 40 years...but one can never get enough Monk. One reason is that, even though the quartet played these songs over and over and over again, both the pianist and his partner-in-crime, saxophonist Charlie Rouse, find new angles and notes to include and discard during each performance. Each release by Dorn is accompanied by his offhand commentary, but this one features a short essay by one of the tallest jazz fans, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose provenance includes his father's performances and influence. The DVD has a generally crisp showing of Monk's last quartet--with bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley--playing "Rhythm a Ning," "Nutty," and "Criss Cross." Here the uneducated can witness the wonderfully rich on-stage relationship between Monk and Rouse, one of the finest duos in jazz history.
Another release by Hyena, The Frank and Joe Show, is one of the better albums--although a tad frustrating in places for the listener. On the other end of the jazz scale is the pre-modern approach of swing guitarist Frank Vignola and his drummer Joe Ascione. Five years ago I tabbed Vignola's nagel heyer release Off Broadway as one of the best albums of the late 90's because the musicians not only played original material with great energy and pace, but they were allowed to stretch out a bit as a venture into ensemble jazz. Six of the 15 selections were written by Ascione, whose tastes proved broad and enticing. On this album these two are again aligned with crack players (including Dr. John himself, Mac Rebennack). However, this album is pretty much a collection of standards, with the exception of a unique "Mozart Jam" and a generic "Sweet Rhythm." Vignola, who carries the traditions of Django Reinhardt and Les Paul as well as anyone, is really on fire in this session. If you like speed in guitar playing, buy this CD. But be willing to be disappointed in a couple of cases where the song is faded out as the man is in the middle of a prolonged and intense solo. It appears that this CD is meant to mirror the material played in "The Frank and Joe Show" as it travels throughout the country; hearing it, one wants desperately to attend a live concert to see where Vignola's solos end and whether or not his strings catch on fire getting there.
