2005 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition

by Steve Herberman

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz held its 18th annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, which this year was devoted to jazz guitar, on September 19, 2005, at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C. The first half of the program featured the three finalists: David Mooney from New Orleans; Lage (pronounced "lah-GAY") Lund from Norway; and, Miles Okazaki from Seattle.

The semifinals were held the previous day at the Smithsonian's Baird Auditorium and featured ten guitarists from all over the world. These top ten had been selected by preliminary judges Peter Bernstein, Vic Juris and Rodney Jones from CD submissions.

The judges of the semifinals and finals were Stanley Jordan, Earl Klugh, Russell Malone, Pat Martino, and Bill Frisell. Frisell missed the semifinals because of his gig at the Village Vanguard. As a special treat, all of the judges performed for the crowd during the second half of the finals.

The Monk Institute always gets top notch talent on all fronts and arranged the "house" band with musical director/pianist Bob James, saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist James Genus, and drummer Terri Lynn Carrington. Hosts included Billy Dee Williams, Thelonious Monk, Jr., Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

The first place winner Lage Lund received a $20,000 grand prize, Miles Okazaki took second with a $10,000 prize, with third place awardee David Mooney carrying home a $5,000 prize. All of the winners are under thirty-years-old.

The competition opened with guitarist David Mooney from New Orleans. David studied under Steve Masakowski at the University of New Orleans where he recently earned a Master's degree. He has played most of the popular jazz clubs in the Big Easy and often features original compositions at his gigs.

Mooney played a Jimmy Foster seven-string archtop through a Polytone MiniBrute amp. He began the evening with the beautiful Thelonious Monk piece "Pannonica" played medium swing. He employed a mixture of chords and single notes on the melody masterfully negotiating its key changes. Next Mooney played "E.S.P." by Wayne Shorter featuring a great solo by Chris Potter.

Mooney offered up a strong consistent mix of single note lines and chords in his solo with an advanced harmonic and rhythmic concept. David's tone was the fullest of the three competing guitarists.

Mooney was followed by Lage Lund who is currently living in Queens, New York. Lage frequently performs at popular jazz clubs such as Smalls with his own group and with the Ari Hoenig Trio around New York.

For the Monk Competition Lage played his blonde Fender D'Aquisto archtop and a Polytone MiniBrute amp. He started with the Ellington/Strayhorn classic "Isfahan." His pickstyle technique was the most relaxed of the three finalists. With Lund's light touch, he harmonized the melody with finesse and great maturity. His solo was musical and effortless over the roving harmonic landscape. James Genus followed with a melodic half chorus bass solo.

Next Lage played Wayne Shorter's "Pinnochio" medium swing. Chris Potter took the first solo while Lund comped thoughtfully behind him. The second half of Lage's solo was spent exploring the upper register of his instrument, adding a crystalline effect. Terri Lynn Carrington played a solo over a vamp that took the tune to its close. Lund's musicality and ease with improvising stood out.

Closing the set was Seattle guitarist Miles Okazaki who is currently performing with vocalist Jane Monheit. His guitar of choice, a Gibson ES-175 Charlie Christian model, was paired with a Fender Twin Reverb. Exuding an air of confidence, Okazaki got down to business quickly with a rhythmically hip version of the Monk classic blues "Misterioso."

Okazaki began the tune fingerstyle until his solo when he switched to a flatpick. He segued into a tender reading of "For All We Know" thumb-style a la Wes Montgomery, capturing Wes' feel beautifully. The coda consisted of pretty finger-picked chords which fit the tune nicely.

The last selection was John Coltrane's "Countdown" taken uptempo as a double-time samba. Okazaki's flexible rhythmic vocabulary was fully on display generating a good deal of tension through his "over the barline" phrasing. There was some nice interplay between Potter and Okazaki before taking the head out and ending with a complicated Pat Metheny-esque coda.

After a brief intermission the program resumed with pianist/composer Junko Moriya from Tokyo receiving the BMI award for the Jazz Composers Competition along with a $10,000 grand prize.

This year the Composers Competition featured guitarist Anthony Wilson on Moriya's winning composition "Playground" joined by Chris Potter, trumpeter Don Sickler and the house rhythm section. Anthony negotiated the playful waltz expertly with his trusty Monteleone Radio Flyer, broken in by years of touring with Diana Krall.

Master guitarist John Pizzarelli teamed up with jazz trumpet legend Clark Terry, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and the expert rhythm section of Bob James, James Genus and Terri Lynn Carrington playing the Gershwin standard "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Pizzarelli traded vocal sections with Bridgewater and played his Bill Moll seven string bringing to mind the sounds of his father, the legendary Bucky Pizzarelli.

Guitarists Russell Malone and Earl Klugh played with Bob James and the illustrious rhythm section on the Victor Young classic "Stella By Starlight."

Malone played his D'Angelico reissue and Klugh played fingerstyle on his classic nylon. At times Klugh's playing evoked Wes Montgomery with similar tone and phrasing to the late guitar master, despite the difference in strings. A witty quote by Russell Malone of Dizzy Gillespie's line "Woody'n You" on the last eight bars of his solo elicited a laugh from bassist James Genus.

Up next was the Dream Band of Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter joined by Genus and Carrington. A probing version of Shorter's "Footprints" was played without individual solos, but with a collective approach to group improvisation by the four front icons of jazz.

Frisell seemed to be a bit disturbed by his Fender Twin amp and tried to increase the volume, while fiddling with an electronic pedal. He appeared more relaxed near the end of the group solo when the band hit an incredible sonic texture, each member playing a different part that fit hand-in-glove with the other parts. After "Footprints" the audience realized that this would be the only tune of the night by the Fabulous Four.

The last judge to play was two-hand tapper, guitarist Stanley Jordan. He played "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" with Dee Dee Bridgewater and surprise guest trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Jordan received the attention of the guitar players in the audience with his unorthodox piano-style technique.

As if this wasn't enough, "Guitar Nirvana" George Benson was honored by receiving the Monk Institute's Maria Fisher Award. Benson walked across the stage with his Ibanez signature model to play the hit "On Broadway" before the 1,100 people in attendance.

To close out the evening, first place winner Lage Lund played with Benson and the rhythm section on an impromptu medium swing rendition of "How High The Moon." in which Benson spun out his crackling brand of blues and bebop with Lund keeping the mood going by playing Benson-like percussive flurries of blues-drenched bop.

Related links
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
The Kennedy Center