On July 3, 2021, Musicians at Play hosted a live “Concert Under the Stars” with John Beasley MONK’estra Septet & Peter Erskine. Preceded by a taco dinner, and this Grammy-winning A-list of musicians in the Septet–Bob Sheppard -Sax, Tom Luer – Sax, Francisco Torres – Trombone, James Ford – Trumpet, Ben Shepherd – Bass and Grammy winner John Beasley on keyboards with special guest Peter Erskine on Drums–a great evening of live music was had by all who attended. The group played music from 6-time GRAMMY nominated & winning MONK’estra trilogy albums.
Paula Edelstein at soundsoftimelessjazz.com said:
“A warm, romantic evening outdoors in Los Angeles was the setting for Musicians at Play’s post–pandemic presentation of John Beasley’s MONK’estra Septet with Peter Erskine “Concert under the Stars.” The MONK’estra Septet featured Grammy winner John Beasley on keyboards, Peter Erskine on drums, Bob Sheppard on tenor sax, Tom Luer on alto and tenor saxophones, Francisco Torres on trombone, James Ford on trumpet and Ben Shepherd on acoustic and electric basses.
As the Music Director of the Grammy-award winning 15-piece big band ensemble called MONK’estra, John was ready to showcase his smaller septet featuring several original compositions with these worldclass musicians. “It’s good to be back, performing live in front of an audience after nearly two years of being locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated John during a brief interview with SOTJ. “The septet will perform an amalgam of Monk’s moods, grooves and intricate sounds that we hope the audience enjoys,” he added.
The septet not only showcased Monk’s moods, but added Beasley’s original composition. John sweetly enamored the audience with an explanation of how the blues-flavored song called “Tess the Flake” came about. Beasley’s writing for this incredibly lovely song was indelibly tight yet flavored with a moody blues. The audience was also treated to a finger-popping performance of John Beasley’s exemplary composition commissioned for a German youth ensemble titled “Freddie’s Blues.”
Throughout the evening, the great artistry of the band was highlighted via several searing solos including Beasley’s Grammy-winning arrangement of the bebop jazz standard attributed to Charlie Parker called “Donna Lee.” With the primary focus being empathy and celebration of such Monk’s unique quirkiness, offbeat accents, punchy dissonances, the septet performed such Monk standards as “Gallup’s Gallop,” Beasley’s compositions and the exceptional cover of Miles Davis’ “Tout de Suite” which featured 4th year University of Miami Frost School of Music student Joey Curreri on trumpet. The audience remained attentive and receptive to the great music throughout the entire set. Additional guest performers included Taku Hirano on congas and Dwight Trible on vocals that spotlighted a post-pandemic celebration that included dancing and revelry.
There was nothing more satisfying than witnessing the level of interaction and virtuosity of the John Beasley MONK’estra septet. The joyous feelings at this post-pandemic performance was more than welcome due to John’s keyboard virtuosity and his mastery of allowing maximum participation on behalf of every player and their own particular way of saying things musically.”
Thanks, Paula!
