Live à la Casa: Music of Thelonious Monk
Évidence, Thelonious Monk / Jean Derome, Pierre Cartier, Pierre Tanguay
… the group gives highly personal renditions of Monk tunes, illustrating why jazz innovators quickly hailed him as major figure. — AllMusic, USA
There’s a slightly glutinous quality to Cartier’s plugged in bass which sometimes threatens to dampen the quirky spring in Monk’s music. — The Wire, UK
“Live à la Casa” is the second record of Évidence a Montréal based trio devoted since 1985 ot the music of Thelonious Monk one of the greatest composers in the history of jazz.
“Évidence is a jewel of a little band that Montréalers in the know are extremely proud of. It consists of Jean Derome, heard here on alto, Pierre Cartier, electric bass and Pierre Tanguay, drums — individually, musicians at home in many musical genres. If you add the eight compositions on this CD to the 10 contained on the earlier Évidence — Musique de Thelonious Monk [AM 028] you have about a quarter of Monk’s compositional legacy.” —Len Dobbin
- Composer(s): Thelonious Monk
- Performer(s): Évidence, Jean Derome, Pierre Cartier, Pierre Tanguay
- Graphic design: Jean-François Denis
CD (AM 082)
- 1Straight, No Chaser, 5:36
- 2Reflections, 7:01
- 3Sixteen, 4:26
- 4Raise Four, 7:22
- 5Ask Me Now, 8:20
- 6Thelonious, 4:43
- 7Blue Hawk, 9:42
- 8Bye-ya, 6:51
- Label: Ambiances Magnétiques Jazz
- AM 082
- 2000
- UCC 771028108220
- Total duration: 54:11
- Jewel case
- 125 mm × 142 mm × 10 mm
- 95 g
On the web
Download (AM 082_NUM)
This item can be downloaded and/or listened to at evidencejazz.bandcamp.com.
Not in catalogue
This item is not available through our website. We have catalogued it for information purposes only.
- 1Straight, No Chaser, 5:36
- 2Reflections, 7:01
- 3Sixteen, 4:26
- 4Raise Four, 7:22
- 5Ask Me Now, 8:20
- 6Thelonious, 4:43
- 7Blue Hawk, 9:42
- 8Bye-ya, 6:51
- Label: Ambiances Magnétiques Jazz
- AM 082_NUM
- 2000
- UCC 771028108282
- Total duration: 54:11
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In the press
Portrait: Évidence
Évidence is a jazz trio based in Montréal and solely devoted to the repertoire of Thelonious Monk. Its biggest particularity is its lack of a pianist. Led by Jean Derome on alto saxophone, the group gives highly personal renditions of Monk tunes, illustrating why jazz innovators quickly hailed him as major figure.
Évidence started in 1985 but its roots extend as far back as 1973 when Derome and bassist Pierre Cartier included Monk pieces in the repertoire of their duo “Flûte et Basse.” The idea of a Monk-exclusive formation came from saxophonist Sylvain Leroux in 1982. The group included Cartier and Derome and was named “Mysterioso” (the title of one of the pianist’s tunes, of course). They played the Montréal Jazz Festival that year, before Leroux left to work in the United States. The two remaining members kept things alive and when drummer Pierre Tanguay settled in Montréal in 1985 he was immediately drafted and the unit rechristened Évidence. Other musicians have performed with the trio, including pianist Guillaume Dostaler, clarinetist Jean-Denis Levasseur and drummer Michel Ratté, but most of the time it performs and records as a trio.
For many years, the group remained a hobby for the three musicians, an excuse to get together and revel in Monk’s music. Since each of their rare live appearances seemed to draw a big crowd and sympathetic reviews, they decided to record a studio album. Musique de Thelonious Monk came out in 1993 on the avant-garde music label Ambiances Magnétiques (which Derome co-founded in the early 1980s). It remains to this day one of its most listener-friendly titles. In 1999, Évidence embarked on a series of concerts meant to cover the repertoire in its entirety, but plans failed when the art space Casa Obscura had to close down. A couple of evenings had already taken place and the CD Live à la Casa became the group’s second offering in 2000.
Soundcheck Review
The group takes its name from a Thelonious Monk composition; eight others form the programme for this live recording, made in Montréal in 1999 Jean Derome on alto saxophone, Pierre Tanguay at the drums and Pierre Cartier on electric bass are adventurous musicians, yet their homage is played respectfully straight. There’s a slightly glutinous quality to Cartier’s plugged in bass which sometimes threatens to dampen the quirky spring in Monk’s music. It also contrasts oddly with Derome’s pinched tone.
Review
Évidence is the Montréal trio of Jean Derome (alto sax), Pierre Tanguay (drums) and Pierre Cartier (electric bass). Regular readers of Splendid are sure to associate these names with many of the Ambiances magnétiques releases we’ve reviewed over the years. In most cases the music we’ve reviewed from guys like Derome or Tanguay has been of the highly experimental, free-form variety. With Live à la casa they move onto more well-known ground by performing the compositions of Thelonious Monk. Their effort is generally meritorious. Certainly the group plays tightly and with a certain liveliness, handling itself well enough on classics like Straight, No Chaser, Reflections and Ask Me Now. Derome’s alto sound is just a tad anemic and the rhythm section does seem a bit square, but these guys are well-rounded musicians and you can’t really fault them for not being specialists. I can’t really escape the feeling, however, that they aren’t real dyed-in-the-wool jazzmen, and Straight, No Chaser has been performed by every college and high school jazz combo in recorded history. I’m not saying that Évidence doesn’t have a right to play these unarguably great compositions or even that they don’t do it well. All I’m saying is that, barring brilliantly deep or novel performances, I’m not sure how many recorded interpretations of some of these tunes we really need.
Review
This is not just a group’s tribute album to the great Thelonius Monk. Évidence has dedicated themselves since 1985 to performing and exploring his music. The trio reincarnates the great pianist’s music for alto sax, electric bass and drums. The disc opens with Straight, no chaser, one of the great standards Monk delivered to the jazz world. Throughout, the group does a commendable job at conjuring the spirit of this exclusive, post-bop genius> (4,5)
Manne montréalaise: Évidente affirmation
S’il existe un groupe qui a bien choisi son nom, c’est bien Évidence. L’Évidence en question c’est Jean Derome au saxophone alto, Pierre Cartier à la basse électrique et Pierre Tanguay à la batterie. L’Évidence en question existe depuis plus d’une décennie. Après tant de temps et donc bien de l’ouvrage abattu, l’Évidence s’affirme encore et toujours commé une nécessité qu’on osera justement qualifier d’évidente.
Une nécessité évidente… Quelles sont les musiques nécessaires? En vrac comme en désordre, il y a celles de Duke Ellington et Charles Mingus, John Zorn et Muddy Waters, Mississippi John Hurt, Dexter Gordon, Zoct Sims, Art Pepper, Lester Bo wie et Miles Davis, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Lounge Lizards et Keith «Capitaine Fracasse» Richards, bien d’autres encore et surtout Thelonious Monk
À Monk, Evidence consacre toutes ses énergies, canalise tous ses talents. À Monk, beaucoup d’autres musiciens ont consacré des heures et des heures de travail pour mettre l’accent sur les aspérités de Four In One et autres javas monkiennes. Parfois ce fut le bonheur, parfois la déception.
Ce qu’il y a de bien, avec Évidence, c’est que ses actionnaires font Monk sans aucun souci de mimétisme. Derome est âpre là ou Rouse était coulant, Cartier font danser les notes dans des temps différents à ceux choisis par Larry Ridley et Frank Dunlop. Bref, Evidence ne fait pas du Monk. Ils le refont.
Ils le refont après l’avoir déconstruit. Ils le refont aprés l’avoir ausculté sous toutes les coutures. Ils sont délinquants là où les autres sont trop souvent trop sages. Enregistré live à la Casa, ce nouvel opus d’Évidence est une des grandes idées sonores de cet automne.
Ne reste plus qu’à se demander pourquoi ce groupe unique est si peu convoqué sur les scènes de Montréal et des environs. Cela relève du crime de lése-majesté.
Critique
Musicien introspectif et toujours en train de reconstruire sa musique quand ce n’est pas celle des autres, Thelonious Monk donne beaucoup de maux de tête à qui veut interpréter ses classiques. Le trio Jean Derome (saxophone), Pierre Tanguay (batterie) et Pierre Cartier (basse) est tout aussi aventurier que le fut Monk. C’est avec une fougue non dissimulée que nos trois compères se jettent corps et âme dons l’arène. Straight, No Chaser est joué d’une façan redoutable avec des attaques particulièrement cinglantes de Derome; Reflections est interprété avec beaucoup de douceur, tandis que les six autres pieces restent dons l’esprit monkien: revendicateur, intelligent, bref… actuel. 7
Critique
Dix-huit ans après sa mort et vingt-huit ans après sa dernière prestation, l’inimitable et mythique pianiste Thelonious Monk demeure encore un objet de fascination. Artiste aux doigts imprévisibles et à la technique peu orthodoxe, au-delà de Round Midnight, Monk aura marqué les années soixante avec une déconstruction des structures, tout comme le fait depuis 1985 le groupe Évidence (Jean Derome au saxophone alto, Pierre Tanguay à la batterie et Pierre Cartier à la basse électrique). Si, pour Derome, jouer Monk est un hobby, cette captation à la Casa Obscura en juin 1999 nous présente le trio en explorateurs impénitents, conscients de la source d’enseignement à laquelle ils s’abreuvent. Bravo pour le choix plus obscur des pièces. ★★★★
Review
La Casa Obscura as it existed when this recording was made in June 1999 was the back room of an artist’s space on Rachel street. No sign on the door, no announcement in the newspapers - you had to know someone to even know about the gigs that Jean Derome and cohorts Pierre Cartier and Pierre Tanguay performed in that winter and spring. So this set of Monk tunes has a certain ramshackle good-spiritedness and intimacy that underground jazz has always had - at least in our romantic imaginings. Derome’s acrid alto and wit (he’s fond of slipping in sly quotations from other songs in his solos) dominate, while Cartier’s bass and Tanguay’s rattletrap drumming provide charming colour. ★★★
Review
The trio Évidence has been playing the music of Thelonious Monk on an irregular basis since 1985. Live à la Casa is their second release, fifteen years after their debut Évidence: Musique de Thelonious Monk. Évidence’s originality resides in the fact that this is an alto saxophone/electric bass/drums trio — no piano. Live à la Casa has been recorded at La Casa Obscura in Montréal on January 13 and June 17, 1999.
Jean Derome (alto sax), Pierre Cartier (bass) and Pierre Tanguay (drums) take much liberty with Monk’s material — a good thing. They revisit classic tunes (Straight, No Chaser, Reflections) and unearth forgotten gems (the 1947 “Thelonious”). Tanguay plays with Monk’s metric as if he were in the school yard (he’s everywhere but on the beat on Blue Hawk) while Derome relies on split-tones to make up for the missing piano clusters that came to be Monk’s signature sound. The music radiates from the musicians’ pleasure of playing these tunes. Monk fans will be pleased by these fresh interpretations from musicians understanding what the pianist’s music was all about. On the other hand, purists will find much to despise on Live à la Casa, but then again purists usually stay away from Monk. Their loss.