In one of the best concerts so far of Dublin Jazz Week, the Stan Tracey Quartet provided a mini-tour through the astringent, thoroughly personal world of the late, great jazz pianist, Thelonious Monk. In itself, perhaps, that was not entirely unexpected; Tracey is probably the only major jazz pianist to have based his style so completely on Monk and, through him, on Duke Ellington. But it was a mite surprising that the programme contained so much Monk material - I Mean You, In Walked Bud (Monk's take on the changes of Blue Skies), Rhythm-a-ning (no prizes for guessing where that came from), Evidence and Little Rootie Tootie - at this stage in Tracey's career.
This is not a complaint, but its relevance is that, to these ears, Tracey's marvellous tenor, Bobby Wellins, seemed more constrained by the Monk pieces, well though he played on them, than anything else. The standards - Comme d'Habitude (a tongue-in-cheek announcement by the pianist for the French original of My Way), Lover Man, What's New, What Is This Thing Called Love and an original blues by Wellins - seemed to release the tenor's creative juices more fully. It's all subjective, of course, but Wellins's solos on these standards, especially on Lover Man, and on his blues and What Is This Thing Called Love, were among his more liberated and fully realised during the night.
That minor quibble aside, this was a splendid concert. Stan Tracey was a joy, combining both the linear and harmonic aspects of his playing with an expressively percussive and rhythmic approach that was full of unexpected twists and turns, yet had the inexorable logic of an artist totally on top of his material. Add to that the interplay between himself, his son, Clark Tracey, on drums, and the virtuoso bassist, Alec Dankworth, and we had a group to savour - in fact, Dankworth's magisterially brilliant soloing constantly threatened to upstage everyone else. But, remarkable though the individual elements were, this was undeniably Stan Tracey's group. It's been 20 years since the pianist was last here; that's too long - and this concert has shown that it has been our loss.
Dublin Jazz Week continues until Sunday. To book for most events contact Ticketmaster on 01-4569569; to book for events at the National Concert Hall and the IFC phone 01-4751572 and 01-6793477, respectively.
