Best Monk album that Monk never played on....
Matthew Watters | Vietnam | 12/15/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All the talk of this record being "laid back" is off-base, as this is one of the best Thelonious Monk albums ever recorded ... without Monk's participation. Lacy had recorded a full album of Monk tunes before ('Reflections'), but that one had a piano: the inestimable Mal Waldron was a superb solo voice, but it was Lacy who was really capturing all the rhythmic and harmonic elements of Monk's material. So, it was only logical to do away with the piano for this record, and Don Cherry proves a superb fellow traveler. Sure, Cherry's playing on 'Evidence' is less "out there" than his work in the Ornette Coleman Quartet, but Cherry was a superbly underrated musician -- and this somewhat more controlled and cerebral performance proves just how good Cherry was. Like Lacy, Cherry had a tremendous feel for Monk's material, and he went on to take the idea of piano-less Monk covers into his work with the New York Contemporary Five. But 'Evidence' remains one of my favourite albums of all time, swinging, exciting and cerebral, and it doesn't deserve to be damned with faint praise. A high-water mark for everyone involved and highly recommended."