Graham Haynes/Vijay Iyer World Premier "Misterioso" An indebtedness to Thelonious Monk at 222

Thelonious Monk (b Amer. 1917-1982) is a legendary jazz composer and pianist whose improvisational style brought innovation and artistry to the world of jazz. Other than Duke Ellington, Monk is the most recorded jazz composer and one of only five jazz musicians featured on TIME's cover. The other four include Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Wynton Marsalis. "Misterioso" a 75 minute multi-media composition is written by Vijay Iyer who was named four times by "DownBeat" Mag., Jazz Artist of the year and Graham Haynes, the recipient of two nominations for the prestigious Alpert Award for the Arts and the son of drummer Roy Haynes. Haynes grew up around legendary jazz musicians including Monk. "Misterioso" is dedicated to Monk's body of work. Haynes' virtuosity on trumpet was astounding. He never spoke during the evening. He let his trumpet and Iyer do the talking. Monk was known for speaking little if at all when performing.  Iyer played piano, electric keyboard and synthesizer while overseeing the large scale visual projection on the wall. The amoeba-like images undulated floated over shifting background colors of neon blue, pink and black spatters. Several black and white photos of Monk appeared showing him at the piano or posing stoically. Iyer explained "'Misteriosos" was representative of what we {Iyear & Haynes} thought Monk's brain would feel like." The overly long  composition was visually abstract and musically discordant. Previous sound recordings were mixed in along with long extended notes and rifts on trumpet and strides on the piano. The piece was often discordant and rarely, if ever, soothing. Haynes and Iyer created what can be regarded as a modern,  innovative musical composition and a visual imagery representative of the inner workings into the mind of  one of the greatest jazz pianists and composers of the 20th C. Monk was the master of improvising. There's only one recording made in which Monk adhered strictly to his (or anyone's) written composition was "Crepuscule with Nellie" (1957). "Misterioso" may have successfully captured the inner workings of Monk's musical genius, but, to say I found it aesthetically or musically pleasing is not the case. Two shorter original compositions followed the marathon "Misterioso". However, the evening ended on a high note as they played one of Monk's most famous pieces. "Around Midnight". Monk never achieved great fame, fortune or critical acclaim during his lifetime owing in part to being far outside mainstream jazz of its time. Perhaps, I'll have bragging rights in the future for being at the world Premier of "Misterioso" but if you missed it, it was only so - so.