Gregory Lewis & Ms. Raina

Organ Monk Sings

 Sunnyside

Organist Gregory Lewis has extended his long-running Organ Monk project into new territory by adding vocalist Raina Welch (professionally known as Ms. Raina). She is a classically trained vocalist, lyricist, producer, and artistic director. Prominent in her development was crossover vocalist, Grammy-nominated Carla Cook, who shaped Raina’s phrasing along the lines of  Carmen McRae, Abbey Lincoln, Leon Thomas, and Eddie Jefferson, artists who had sung Monk’s music. Jon Hendricks was also an important person in this shared vision of Lewis and Raina.

Raina, with her curating and artistic director background, conceived Organ Monk Sings as a sonic play, a narrative suite exploring love, loss, and revelation through the iconic pianist’s compositions. Most of the lyrics are from Hendricks, Lincoln, or Jefferson, with others from Mike Ferro, Sally Swisher, and Bernie Hanighen. Ms. Raina wrote rather contemporary lyrics for 1952’s “Let’s Cool One.” The project unfolds in four acts (although not delineated as such on the track list), much like a stage work with overture, scenes, interludes, and grand finale. We begin with romantic love, then heartbreak, introspection, and renewal, akin to a Shakespearean tragic love story.  The group is an organ trio fronted by Ms. Raina, with Jerry Weldon on tenor saxophone, Nasheet Waits on drums, and, of course, Lewis on the Hammond B2 organ. There are eighteen Monk compositions, some of which Lewis had never played. The sequence moves through solo organ, duos, trios, and full quartet settings, running for little over an hour.  Suffice to say, this is a one-of-a-kind project.

Lewis, who has been studying Monk for more than twenty years, begins with the solo piece, “North of the Sunset,” a late-period Monk piece from 1964. We first hear Ms. Raina singing Jon Hendricks’s lyrics on an emotive “Pannocia,” following Lewis’s lengthy intro. Rains’s classical training and impressive range are evident immediately in the first few lyrics she sings. We first hear the full quartet on the iconic “Ugly Beauty,” lyrics by Mike Ferro, in a seamless segue from “Pannonica.” Weldon’s lyricism on tenor is a great match for Raina’s high-pitched vocals. The tempo and mood shift to the vibrant swing of “I Mean You,” followed by the organ trio going chops up on “Let’s Call This.” r “Well, You Needn’t,’ lyrics again by Ferro, features the full quartet. Listen to Waits’s emphatic accents on the downbeats, as well as potent solos from both Weldon and Lewis. Raina’s vocal phrase  “it’s over now’ signifies the heartbreak.

 “Let’s Cool One,” with Rain’s lyrics, begins the introspective portion of the program, which also includes the ballad “Ask Me Now,” a rousing trio take on “Friday the 13th,” and Lewis’s riveting solo  on “Something in Blue.” The introspective portion continues with Raina’s stunning interpretation of “‘Round Midnight,” lyrics by Bernie Hanighen, that includes a bluesy turn from Weldon. The mournful “Ruby, My Dear,” with lyrics by Sally Swisher, follows directly with inventive phrasing by Raina and emotive lines by Weldon. Lewis kicks up a stormy intro and later a searing solo on “Blue Monk” as Raina deftly navigates Abbey Lincoln’s lyrics.

The duo of Lewis and Waits render a lively “Off Minor” to introduce the ‘renewal” portion of the program. “MonK’s Dream” features the full quartet with lyrics from Hendricks and on-target lyricism by Weldon.  They take a brisk up-tempo run through “Straight, No Chaser” with lyrics by Eddie Jefferson. “Reflections,” with lyrics by Hendricks, is a duo rendering by Raina and Lewis, a piece that might have fit better in the ‘introspective’ section.  In any case, the full quartet lets loose on the swinging “Rhythm-A-Ning,” wringing out Hendricks’s lyrics to the stellar kit work of Waits and the fiercely locked-in instrumental trio.

Organ Monk Sings incorporates classical elements, extends the jazz vocal tradition, and introduces us to the marvelous vocals of Ms.Raina. Until now, the vocal treatments of Monk’s songs by the likes of McRae, Lincoln, and Jefferson have been cuts among various other works on albums.  The genius of Monk is on a new firmament in Organ Monk Sings.

 Jim Hynes

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