JAZZ REVIEWS : Monk Group Shows Collective Spirit

T. S. Monk let his music speak for itself Wednesday night at the Jazz Bakery. The loquacious son of jazz great Thelonious Monk talked a lot about music before the show, describing, in effusive terms, his belief that a band that stays together plays better together.

“When guys have a chance to stick together in a band for a while,” he said, “they have the opportunity to really dig into music.”

He was right. The six-piece ensemble Monk brought to the Bakery for a four-night run performed with a spirit, a drive and an enthusiasm rarely seen in the transitory aggregates that often pass for jazz groups these days. Interestingly, it did so despite the fact that band regulars Bobby Porcelli and Scott Colley were replaced, respectively, by alto saxophonist John Gordon and bassist Gary Wang.

But the long-term, core group of Willie Williams on tenor saxophone, Ronnie Matthews on piano and Don Sickler on trumpet, together for more than three years, had a vital emotional and musical connectedness, energized by Monk’s robust drumming, that easily drew the newer members into their creative orbit.

Monk devoted much of his set to works from the group’s third album, “The Charm.” In the initial number, “The Dealer Takes Four,” the members spent the opening part of the tune adjusting their upfront, aggressive sound to the still sometimes clattery Bakery acoustics. That task accomplished, the balance of the set evolved into pure, straight-ahead, uncomplicated jazz. Solo bouquets were largely claimed by Matthews, a first-rate, too-often-unrecognized artist.

But the real star of the program, as Monk had predicted and as the enthusiastic audience response made clear, was the ensemble collectivity: the brisk band passages that were not just well-played, but played with fire and vigor; the timbral blend that only comes to musicians who know each other’s styles well enough to instantly adapt to any acoustic circumstances; and, above all, the unified rhythmic propulsion.

* T.S. Monk at the Jazz Bakery through Saturday. 3233 Helms Ave. (310) 271-9039. $20 admission. T.S. Monk performs one show, at 8:30 p.m.