Jon Batiste - Monk Meditations

This project takes a different approach to Monk’s catalog. “Always Know,” from Monk Meditations, introduces an eight-track album that pares the composer’s work into new-age-influenced piano pieces, including “Monk’s Mood” and “Crepuscule With Nellie.” “Susu’s Back In Town,” from Monk Movements, previews an eight-track set that recasts Monk standards as contemporary classical compositions. Its tracklist also includes “Blue Monk,” “Ugly Beauty,” and “Brilliant Corners.”

Batiste said his connection to Monk began when he first discovered the pianist and listened to his music for a year. That influence was already present on Batiste’s 2006 recording Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art, made while he was a Juilliard student. “Monk is really the master of taking music that’s of the highest complexity and presenting it in a way where anybody can connect to it,” Batiste said. “Monk is for the children, the adults, and the connoisseur.”