Tim Warfield - Spherical: Dedicated to Thelonious Sphere Monk (2015)

Tim Warfield's eighth Criss Cross leader recording 'Spherical', which references the middle name of its primary subject, immortal jazz pianist-composer Thelonious Sphere Monk, is the tenor/soprano saxophonist's most idiosyncratic and personal document to date.
To be specific, Warfield and an efflorescent quintet of virtuoso teamplayers (Eddie Henderson, trumpet; Orrin Evans, piano; Ben Wolfe, bass; Clarence Penn, drums) personalise six Monk compositions (Off Minor, Ugly Beauty, Oska T, Gallop's Gallop, Coming on the Hudson, and Round Midnight) and That Old Man (which Monk recorded as "Children's Song"in 1964), as well as an original Warfield blues dedicated to Monk's first employer, Coleman Hawkins.

All members improvise with a creative force that shows the depth of their engagement with the essence of these masterworks; the will to swing defines the proceedings throughout.

Tracklist:

01. Blue Hawk
02. Oska T
03. That Old Man
04. Gallop's Gallop
05. Off Minor I
06. Ugly Beauty
07. Coming on the Hudson
08. Off Minor II
09. 'Round Midnight

Personnel:

Tim Warfield (tenor & soprano saxophone),
Eddie Henderson (trumpet),
Orrin Evans (piano), Ben Wolfe (bass),
Clarence Penn (drums).