Thelonius Garcia: Marche Nocturne

The first name Thelonious—does it come from the word theology? Is a parent giving a newborn a form of divinity with the appellation? This is speculation; the answer is up in the air, but the most famous Thelonious is Thelonious Sphere Monk, one of the brightest of jazz stars to emerge in the age of bebop.

And now we have Thelonius Garcia (note the slight spelling variation of the first name) and his debut recording. Serenity reigns—and it feels like divine serenity—on the pianist's debut recording, Marche Nocturne.

Like many jazz artists before him, Garcia started his quest in the classical music world, immersing himself in the music of Claude Debussy and Gabriel Fauré. Then, his studies at McGill University, studying piano jazz performance, brought to his orbit the music of Thelonious Monk—Garcia's father was a Monk fan—Chick Corea, Paul Bley and Vijay Iyer.

Marche Nocturne (Night Walk) is a languid, wee hours solo piano stroll through sixteen Garcia originals. They are lovely and introspective vignettes. He says of his compositions: "This album is about my inability to grasp what reality means; it's about the constant conversation between the world of dreams and the real world. A night walk between day and night, sleep and wakefulness." This sounds like the ubiquitous quest of artists of all stripes, and Garcia immerses himself in the journey with sincerity and with a sublime and well-conceived look inward, making subtly rapturous music, like an artist who is serious about creating, and understanding beauty and the real world.