Organ Monk Trio
Arthur's Tavern57 Grove Street, New York 10014
Organ Monk Trio brings Gregory “Greg” Lewis’s Hammond-organ approach to Thelonious Monk’s music to Arthur’s Tavern. The bill identifies a trio, though no individual players are listed for this date, so the personnel beyond Lewis is not confirmed. Expect a set rooted in Lewis’s ongoing exploration of Monk compositions on organ, rather than a fixed lineup drawn from a previous recording or appearance.
Lewis is a New York City native who grew up in Long Island City, and has become a fixture of the city’s jazz and blues scene through Hammond-organ playing and his interpretations of Monk. His documented collaborators include guitarists Ron Jackson, Kevin McNeal and Marc Ribot, plus drummers Cindy Blackman, Nasheet Waits and Jeremy Bean Clemons. On the recording Organ Monk Going Home, Lewis worked with McNeal and drummer Nasheet Waits. Reviewing that record, The Arts Fuse praised Lewis’s “technique” and “creative arrangements,” called Waits “alert and propulsive,” and heard in McNeal a “classic Grant Green sound.” Lewis’s Monk focus returns to music whose harmony Ben Ratliff described as “fresh and savory,” able to “get deeper in the ear” and “intensify and explode.”
Arthur's Tavern is a basement club in the West Village where jazz, Latin, and blues are played with deep roots and modern energy. The stage is small, the room intimate, and the audience sits close to the musicians, often with a few people standing near the back. Shows start around 5 PM and go late, with some sets extending into the early hours. The club has a history of hosting top-tier performers since 2001, including regular appearances by Yuichi Hirakawa Jazz Group. It's a place where music is the center, and conversation flows naturally between the audience and the performers.