Charles Tolliver and Jason Moran to Salute Monk At Town Hall

  I  

Duke Performances and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University will present two concerts on Feb. 26 and 27, 2009, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Thelonious Monk’s seminal Town Hall concert in New York City, the first time Monk’s music was ever played by a big band.

Charles Tolliver and Jason Moran salute the legendary musician by creating their takes on the original concert, using never-before-heard recordings and images shot during rehearsals by photographer W. Eugene Smith, who also lived in the “Jazz Loft” rehearsal building, where Monk and his band practiced. WNYC Radio, the nation’s largest public radio station, will air an exclusive live broadcast of the Feb. 26 concert, anchored by Evening Music host Terrance McKnight, and will tape the Feb. 27 concert for later broadcast.

More info: monkattownhall.org



  • Courtesy_of_the_Ulmer_family.jpg

    To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.

  • DB26_Critics_Poll_Montage.jpg

    Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.

  • Abdhullah_Ibrahim_Detroit_Jazz_Festival_2022_by_Michael_Jackson.jpg

    Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”

  • Rodney_Holmes_Courtesy_Meinl.jpg

    A drummer’s drummer, Rodney Holmes gigged with everyone from Joe Zawinul and Carlos Santana to Steve Kimock and the Brecker Brothers.

  • promoFINALdress-1_copy.jpg

    “There was something about her tone and sound and phrasing — an intimacy, a vulnerability, an honesty,” says Joshua Redman, who produced Cavassa’s record after she toured with his band.