NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Owens debut as a leader on IPO features the legendary trumpeter & flugelhornist leading a stellar septet on a program of
uniquely original arrangements of Thelonious Monk compositions that are deeply steeped in the blues.
Jimmy Owens will receive the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy. The A.B. Spellman award is special recognition as an NEA Jazz Master.
Longtime colleague and fellow NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron, well known for playing Monk s music with the group Sphere, heads the rhythm section.
Robin Kelley, who wrote the prize-winning biography Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, contributes extensive liner notes.
Jimmy Owens (trumpet, flugelhorn); Marcus Strickland (tenor saxophone); Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone, tuba); Wycliffe Gordon (trombone); Kenny Barron (piano); Winard Harper (drums).
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