The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra takes the stages downtown twice this week.
Tonight at the Bijou Theatre, the KJO is joined by John Beasley for a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Theolonius Monk’s birth.
Beasley’s group, the Monk’estra, celebrates the genius of Monk’s style, but takes it into contemporary directions with the addition of Afro-Cuban rhythms, modern jazz language and hip-hop, all in big band orchestrations.
“When I first heard Monk’s music, it totally made me smile,” Beasley says in a taped discussion about Monk. “His music has a lot of humor in it, a sort of audacity. But how could that feel so good with sort of experimental harmony happening.
“It’s sort of the way I felt when I saw Picasso. It had humor in it, but also a lot of humanity.”
Beasley comes by his musical sensibilities naturally. Born in Texas, his father was a jazz educator at North Texas State University. His mother led bands and also taught music. His grandfather played trombone in bands across the Texas territories.
In 1980, he began a relationship working and touring with Sergio Mendes. He spent six years as a member of Freddie Hubbard’s quintet and toured with Miles Davis in 1989. He has also appeared with Steely Dan, Chaka Khan, James Brown, the Spice Girls and Dianne Reeves. He has recorded 11 albums, beginning in 1988 and continuing through last year’s Monk-estra Vol. 1 and 3 Brave Souls.
He won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2011, and two more in 2017 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Or Monk-estra, Vol. 1, and Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for “Ask Me Now.” He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction for “Jazz at the White House.”
Tickets for tonight’s concert range from $16-$37. The show begins at 8 p.m.
Wednesday at noon at The Square Room, 4 Market Square, the Mike Baggetta Trio will perform on Jazz Lunch @ The Square Room.
This will be the trio’s first performance on an East Coast tour. Joining Baggetta will be bass guitarist Jerome Harris and drummer Billy Mintz. Among other pieces, they will perform music from their latest album, “Spectre.” The trio’s music has been described as stealthy and mysterious.
Tickets for Jazz Lunch @ The Square Room are $15 and include a buffet lunch.