Liner Notes for Mike Monford's Perseverance by Herb Boyd

In this age of social media, hashtags, selfies, e­books, and up and downloads, to have someone ask you to write liner notes to their next CD is like being summoned back to a distant yesterday. Such a request came to me from alto saxophonist/composer Mike Monford, and hearing his voice, I knew he couldn’t have known that much about the past, but I was mistaken. Not only is he conversant about the history of jazz, his latest release—co­produced with pianist/composer Marc Cary—is material evidence that he and his ensemble know how to make the past prologue, right up to the moment, and as fresh and current as your next thought.

Even before I began listening to the tracks, I had a feeling it would be something I would relish, given the lineup: Monford, alto sax; Cary, piano and organ; Tarus Mateen, bass; Steve Williams, drums; and Rayse Biggs, trumpet. Intriguing, too, was the mix of the familiar (I have been listening to Biggs and Cary for years), and the not so familiar (Mateen, Williams, and Monford). This was the first instance of balance that is a vital element in the success of any endeavor.

That necessary balance continues in the list of songs—four originals and three evergreens. When you live in Harlem as I do, any geographical location sparks a rosary of memories. “119​th & Lenox” is the opening number and from Cary’s intro it’s hard not to think of Minton’s Playhouse, which is a few blocks away and the cauldron where Bird and Diz cooked the first pot of bop. And bop is the word here with Biggs’ absolutely explosive trumpet riding the crest of a determined rhythm section and Cary’s propulsive chords. Monford enters and adds harmonic and melodic density without disturbing the tune’s engaging flow.

With the recurring ostinato pulse of Mateen’s bass line you can see “King Tut’s Strut,” though the ancient Pharaoh is here given a new world edge and this collective effort is emblematic ofthe group’s tight interplay, particularly the weave of exchanges between Biggs and Monford. The bopish vigor of the preceding tune is renewed and it’s not the Nile Valley but 125​Street or Black Bottom, way back in the day. “Lover Man” is Monford’s first stand­alone solo, and nothing is more challenging than working a standard that everybody knows with nowhere to run but up and down some scales, which he does with warmth and sweet efficiency.

There is a grand orchestral feel to the CD’s title tune “Perseverance,” made all the more celestial and majestic by Cary’s voice­like organ. When Monford’s horn blends with the organ’s lower stops, the theme settles into a pleasant groove that grows in complexity, especially from the musical dialogue between Mateen and Williams. This arrangement epitomizes the band’s vision and coherence, and it reprises that ever present balance. Yes, the performance and composition resonates with Detroit flavor, but there’s a lot of Harlem there as well.

On “Never Let Me Go,” Monford is again alone and it’s clear he knows the lyrics and they almost become manifest, particularly when he lushly intones “I’d be so lost if you went away.” He gives the bridge a unique turn as if to put his personal stamp on a song that has been done thousands of times. The CD runs the gamut of human emotions and here Monford evokes one that every romantic has experienced.

“So Gracefully” says it all and once more the venture here is a group involvement with each instrument complementing the other. Even so, Cary delivers a remarkable solo on his composition flush with brio and brilliance.

The group closes with its rendition of another chestnut “What’s New” and obviously there’s plenty new here in this beautiful arrangement, in which the tune completes the metaphor of balance with a lovely blend of old and new spices, tried and tested phrases tastefully garnished with elements of that historic timeline of jazz so much a part of the leader’s perspective.

Arriving successfully to your destination, be it personal or collective, requires determination, discipline, creativity, balance and perseverance. Monford and his band with this CD presents you with each one of those elements, and we all know the importance of “Perseverance.”

Herb Boyd, B​lack Detroit—A People’s History ​is his forthcoming book from Amistad, 2016.