Mike Frederick

I have been checking out Jonathan Kreisberg’s playing a bit in the last year or so, and I’m also a big Thelonious Monk fan, so I figured I’d see what Jonathan (and fellow Eastman alumnus, organist Gary Versace) play on Monk’s “Ask Me Now.” I think they both do a great job navigating these changes in a melodic way. I have heard criticism of Kreisberg’s use of guitaristic patterns- and there’s no question that he employs them- but I have mixed feelings on the matter. One one hand, the conspicuous use of patterns has been traditionally frowned on by jazz educators, and on the other hand, it sounds pretty cool. Further investigation is required… There is a lot of great things happening, rhythmically, in Gary Versace’s solo. His seamless movement between 16th-note and triplet figures is really something to aspire to.

You can buy the track or the whole album, “New for Now,” on Amazon.

Here’s my transcription:
Kreisberg Ask Me Now

And here’s a video of me playing along with the recording.

Enjoy!
MF