‘Jazz on Jackson’ features T.S. Monk

If you’re wondering what to do with the Christmas money you received this year from Aunt Minnie and Uncle Lester, don’t blow it at the year-end clearance sales. Contact the South Jackson Civic Center in Tullahoma, and reserve your tickets to the upcoming performance of T.S. Monk and his sextet. There may be no better way to bust those mid-winter blues than to be at SJCC on the evening of Jan. 29, when jazz drummer Monk, son of bebop pianist/composer Thelonius Monk, will perform in concert as part of “Jazz on Jackson.”

Monk, 55, has lived a musically varied life. As the son of Thelonius Monk, he had early exposure to the world of performance, especially with regard to the jazz genre. Growing up in New York, he was expected to play piano, but hated it. His exposure to great jazz musicians included Miles Davis, Art Blakely and Max Roach. T.S. found his musical niche while a teenager at boarding school, when a roommate gave him a pair of drumsticks. The rest was history, as the saying goes.

Monk has played numerous styles of music, including be-bop, rhythm and blues, big band, swing, jazz, fusion and improv. He has determined not to clone himself as his father, feeling that it would be disrespectful to emulate his father. However, the library of his recordings does include Monk on Monk, a tribute album which received the New York Jazz Award’s “Recording of the Year,” and was voted “Album of the Year” Downbeat magazine.

Other recordings include Take One, Changing of the Guard, The Charm, Crosstalk and his most recent, Higher Ground.

Prior to the 8 p.m. performance, Monk will conduct a one-hour afternoon jazz workshop at 2:15 p.m. at the Civic Center. There is a $5 fee per attendee, and all participants who attend the workshop may redeem their paid receipt for a $5 discount on the tickets for the evening concert.

South Jackson Civic Center is located at 404 S. Jackson St. (S.R. 41-A & S.R. 55) in Tullahoma. Tickets are $25/adults, $15/students. For tickets, reservations or more information, call 931/455-5321 or log onto www.southjackson.org. “Sold Out” concert conditions will require advance pick-up or guarantee by VISA or MasterCard.

T.S. Monk Jr. is presented by South Jackson Civic Association and is sponsored in part by the State of Tennessee Arts Commission and Arts Build Communities grants.