BRATTLEBORO — On Saturday, Jan. 17, at 8 p.m., the Vermont Jazz Center presents drummer Clarence Penn in concert with his quartet, Penn Station, performing the music of Thelonious Monk.
The group includes Penn and New York heavyweights Chad Lefkowitz-Brown on saxophone, Matt Mitchell on piano, and Yasushi Nakamura on bass.
Although jazz purists may balk at the idea of Penn reinterpreting Monk's classic compositions, promoters say the sound is fresh and adventurous, and retains and celebrates Monk's indelible melodies and harmonic genius.
These arrangements can be heard on the quartet's highly acclaimed new CD, “Monk: The Lost Files.”
Penn is riding a wave as the go-to-drummer of his generation. He is the first-call drummer for many of New York's most enduring, creative artists: Maria Schneider, Dave Douglas, and Stanley Clarke among them.
Penn also is familiar to many Vermont Jazz Center listeners as the drum instructor for the VJC's summer jazz workshop. He performed on the VJC's stage in 2011 with Dave Stryker and Steve Slagle, and in 2013 with the Grégoire Maret Quartet.
Since 1991, when he arrived in New York City, Penn has compiled a discography that includes several hundred studio albums, including three Grammy Award-winning recordings.
He has toured worldwide, composed music for films and commercials, and produced tracks for numerous singers in the pop and alternative arenas.
Lefkowitz-Brown is a graduate of the Brubeck Institute in California and a multiple DownBeat magazine Student Music Award-winner. He has shared the stage with some of the most influential names in jazz.
Mitchell leads his own quartet with Chris Speed, Chris Tordini, and Dan Weiss; he co-leads Normal Remarkable Persons with Tim Berne, Herb Robertson, Shane Endsley, Travis Laplante, Tyshawn Sorey, Ches Smith, and Dan Weiss. He is a 2012 recipient of a Pew Fellowship from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.
Nakamura was born in Tokyo and grew up in Seattle, Wash. He received a full scholarship to the Juilliard School's AD program and has performed at jazz academies and many festivals.