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Black History Month w/ Monk at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola

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Celebrating Black History Month This Week with the Music of Thelonious Monk at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola:

The Ben Riley Monk Legacy Septet Featuring trumpeter/arranger Don Sickler, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery & guitarist Freddie Bryant

After Hours with The Peter Leitch Duo (New York, NY) February 7, 2005 - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola -- located in The House of Swing, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall presents The Ben Riley Monk Legacy Septet, performing the music of Thelonious Monk with a piano-less septet that captures the spirit and sound of Monk through the incomparable playing of drummer Ben Riley and the unique arrangements and orchestrations of trumpeter/arranger Don Sickler. In addition to offering a completely fresh take on Monk’s perennial music, Riley’s Monk Legacy Septet features some of the major players on the current jazz scene, including saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, guitarist Freddie Bryant, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and saxophonist Bruce Williams.

Tuesday, February 8 through Sunday, February 13: The Ben Riley Monk Legacy Septet Ben Riley (drums), Don Sickler (trumpet & arranger), Bruce Williams (alto & soprano sax), Wayne Escoffery (tenor & soprano sax), Jay Brandford (baritone sax), Freddie Bryant (guitar), Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass).

Two full artist sets at 7:30pm & 9:30pm. Additional set on Friday & Saturday at 11:30pm.

Drummer Ben Riley and arranger/trumpeter Don Sickler have taken their deep love and understanding for Thelonious Monk’s music and developed a new environment for exploring the genius of the man: a piano-less septet. Ben Riley played in Thelonious Monk’s quartet for nearly five years and was continuously inspired by Monk the composer and performer. 2004 marked the 40th anniversary of the first of 166 nights that Riley performed with Monk at the Village Vanguard.

Monk had his own personal harmonic and rhythmic language, which, coupled with his unorthodox approach to the piano - the way he coaxed sound from the keys of the piano - made his voice in the rhythm section totally unique. Riley’s no-piano Monk Legacy Septet lets varying combinations of horns and guitar explore Monk’s accompaniment role, using Monk’s own unique palette of harmonies and rhythms. Ben can once again react to the familiar Monk language and accents, now being spoken by alto or soprano sax, trumpet, tenor sax, baritone sax and guitar. The combination of these different instrumental timbres, without piano, creates a refreshing new canvas of sound for exploring Monk¹s music.

Don Sickler’s arrangements dissect and re-construct Monk’s comping and solos so the Septet’s voices echo Monk’s original thoughts and phrases, inspiring Riley’s responses. As many excited audience members said after the group’s debut performance at the Village Vanguard in NYC, “This band ROCKS!"

Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet repertoire currently includes: Ask Me Now, Bemsha Swing, Blue Monk, Boo Boo's Birthday, Brake's Sake, Bright Mississippi, Bye-Ya, Coming On The Hudson, Epistrophy, Evidence, Four In One, Gallop's Gallop, Green Chimneys, Jackie-ing, Let's Call This, Little Rootie Tootie, Pannonica, Reflections, Rhythm-A-Ning, Shuffle Boil, Straight, No Chaser and Ugly Beauty.

Ben Riley’s remembrances of Dizzy Gillespie: “The first time I worked with Dizzy, he said, ‘you play wonderful rhythms, but please, play them longer, stretch them out.’ He loved Latin and African rhythms, and wanted to hear more of them! Everyone that he always played with, Dizzy would bring his own cymbals, but he always told me to bring my cymbal; a Chinese cymbal that I use, he always said, ‘bring your cymbals!’

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