$10 Cover at the Door

Everybody has literal and figurative homes. There are the physical places where heads are laid at night and then there are the feelings, people, activities, or spaces that provide a feeling of the comfort of home. Gregory Lewis has found a musical home delving into the Hammond organ and the music of the great composer/pianist Thelonious Monk, a practice that has allowed him opportunities to play with extraordinary musicians and visit amazing places, and his new recording Organ Monk Going Home brings all of these aspects to bear.

Growing up in New York in a Black household hailing from the South, Lewis was taught to celebrate the continent where civilization began, along with the society that these dynasties of Africa helped to create. Part of this societal foundation was the music that Lewis grew up hearing in his 1970s household, which included soul and funk music, along with jazz.

Lewis initially discovered Monk’s work through his father’s record collection. The impression made by the master was enough to inspire the young listener to attempt to learn the idiosyncratic music on piano. But it was when Lewis heard organist Larry Young perform a version of “Monk’s Dream” that Lewis knew that he wanted to focus on interpreting Monk’s music on the organ.