The Birmingham-born jazz star pays tribute to a master of modern music, with tap-dance rhythms and Heidi Vogel’s vocals adding pep to proceedings

Few have doubted that African American pianist/composer Thelonious Monk was a genius of modern music, as this album title attests, but the acclaimed 28-year-old Birmingham-born saxophonist Xhosa Cole catches Monk’s wild spirit as well as the legacy of his great compositions.

Cole accelerates the opening Trinkle, Tinkle into a whooping clamour of figures resolving on a dark, grouchily slurred low note, then elides the details of the composition without losing any of its ingenious design. An unusual lineup features a dynamically empathic guitarist in Steve Saunders, and the percussion is shared between drummer Nathan England Jones and the sharp chatter of Brooklyn tap dancer Liberty Styles’ feet. Rhythm-a-ning opens on wriggling free-tenor figures before the melody emerges – first faithfully, then slewing and loose – and Misterioso enters on bassist Josh Vadiveloo’s muscular solo pizzicato before the dreamy tenor theme. Criss Cross segues into Round Midnight before ending up at Brilliant Corners, and Cinematic Orchestra singer Heidi Vogel unwraps a majestic account of Duke Ellington’s Come Sunday before a quietly ecstatic tenor-sax odyssey at the end. An erudite young sax master, Cole sounds as if he’s already way down the road, but with plenty of fascinating detours to go.

from www.theguardian.com