DSC (Dorsey, Skaff & Clark): MonkTime

DSC is the trio of Leon Lee Dorsey on bass, Greg Skaff on guitar, and Mike Clark on drums. Dorsey, who was a member of the Jazz Messengers in 1988, has been away from the recording studios for some time, teaching at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. This new unit was his idea and MonkTime is their first effort. An entire set of compositions by Thelonious Monk is not uncommon these days, but these songs are seldom heard in the guitar trio format. Guitarist Skaff has played with Bobby Watson, been a member of the coop band Full House with trumpeter Jim Rotondi and keyboardist David Hazeltine, and led his own sessions for the Zoho label. The versatile drummer Clark first recorded with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters bands in the early Seventies. I read somewhere recently that in the Sixties, Monk would only rehearse with Charlie Rouse and just tell the bass player and drummer to swing as hard as they could. Listening to DSC take on eight of the maestro’s gems makes me think they read the same comments before this recording and took the words to heart. DSC pays a warm tribute to Mr. Monk by treating his tunes with the respect and care that they deserve. MonkTime is a winner from start to finish, and it is warmly recommended.
JazzAvenue1; Greg Skaff (g) Leon Lee Dorsey (b) Mike Clark (d); NYC, no dates specified; Well You Needn’t/ Monk’s Dream/ Monk’s Mood/ Blue Monk/ Little Rootie Tootie/ Ugly Beauty/ We See/ Epistrophy; 42:20. leonleedorsey.com