News Update: Irabagon Wins Monk Competition

So that's the news! Jon Irabagon, the alto saxophonist of Mostly Other People Do the Killing, just won the Thelonious Monk Institute's annual competition. I'm in a state of shock- happy shock, but shock none-the-less- at this news. Walter Smith III was also a semi-finalist, and I pretty much assumed that he would win partly because of his brilliance as a horn player and seeming importance to the current crop of young musicians (I have at least one friend who calls Smith the "voice of his generation on tenor saxophone"), but mostly because of his connection to the institute as a graduate. Seriously, Ambrose Akinmusire won the Monk competition last year on trumpet, and Gretchen Parlato won the vocal competition. Granted, this fact probably reflects more on the decisions of those who run the Monk Institute than those who judge the competitions, but up until now it was two for two.

Congrats Jon Irabagon!

For those of you who don't know his playing, here's an example.

Next time I'll tear the new Downbeat apart. The time after that I'll have a review of "Petit Oiseau," the gorgeous new record from the William Parker Quartet.

Notes on the New Downbeat: Miguel Zenon's "Beautiful Combination" Adds Up to Less Than the Sum of its Parts, In My Opinion

First off, why does everyone love Miguel Zenon so much? Seriously, if you love Miguel Zenon comment and explain it to me, because after having heard "Jibaro" (I couldn't find "Awake" anywhere) and having seen him live twice (once with his quartet, once with SFJazz Collective; both very recently) all I got was that he could shed scale patterns really fast (like, really fast). Anyway though, here's Stefon Harris, possibly beating Stanley Crouch at the ridiculous praise game, talking about Miguel Zenon:

"Miguel has a beautiful combination of all the elements it takes to move a human being"

Uh... what?
On a totally different note, though, I was really glad to see Esperanza Spalding get an article to herself, her "Junjo" was great, and while I haven't heard her new album "Esperanza" yet, the tracks on her myspace are setting it up to be a real doozy. Also, props to Downbeat for featuring Mostly Other People Do The Killing in the "Players" section. They're awesome.

Also, Jamey Aebersold and David Baker (both of whom were involved in this year's IAJE conference) can't tell the difference between Sonny Rollins and David Murray? Is this some sort of bad dream? No wonder IAJE had to declare bankruptcy...

Tomorrow I'll either have a review of James Carter's "Present Tense" or a double bill review of John Ellis' "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" and Third World Love's "New Blues," all three of which are absolutely killin'. I've said it a billion times, but this spring season is one to remember.