Dave Monsch: Struttin' at the Winedale

Dallas-based saxophonist and flautist Dave Monsch wants his debut album to catch listeners' attention. "I don't feel that it is a predictable album," he stated through an email exchange with AAJ. "There are so many different types of songs and styles, I would hope that something will grab them, if not all of it."

Struttin' at the Winedale is a collection of eight original compositions that display Monsch's capacity for pushing the boundaries of jazz within an ensemble format. Despite an abundance of rapid arpeggios, you would not necessarily call it a blowing session as the album has a clarity and discipline that strikes a memorable balance in creating its own vibe.

Monsch, who is equally proficient on both of his instruments, shows a diverse range of influences: Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster and Ornette Coleman are some of his favorites among famous saxophonists. "All very different players, but each one has been very important to me," he said, while also acknowledging an attraction to the big-band stylings of Gil Evans, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Harry Connick, Jr.. It was Evans' sound that he was thinking about when writing the other harmony parts for "Waves."

The eight compositions, all by Monsch, cover a broad range of style and give the leader and his side men plenty of elbow room to stretch out. Monsch uses this roominess to good advantage in rhapsodizing over modes with a forthright and slightly husky tone, mostly on tenor saxophone. His accomplished ensemble includes bassist Paul Unger, drummer Dennis Durick, pianist Brad Williams and trombonist-accordionist David Pierce. Together, they create a rich layered sound that complements Monsch's vision while allowing each musician to shine, resulting in an album that is both exploratory and accessible,

"We all know each other so well and have played together so much," Monsch commented, "that as a leader very little is needed to be said. Some dynamic ideas for certain areas of the songs, tempos, and with regards to instrument choices for a couple tunes, but I feel if you say too much in the studio, that can get in people's heads and get them out of the music. This was thankfully, not that kind of experience. We could just play."

You can hear a lot of Joe Henderson throughout the album, with perhaps a pinch of R&B or David Sanborn on a couple of tracks. The opener is "Joe Through Osmosis," a playful tribute to Henderson that has an unmistakable Blue Note feel, two horns on a fast, hard hitting swing tune. Pierce adds a lot of punch on trombone. "When I wrote it," Monsch recalled, "I was listening to a lot of Joe and it had that sound to me."

"An Irish Farewell" is a melody that is reminiscent of a sea shanty. It starts and ends slowly, with Unger's cresting bowed bass, before the middle tempo picks up and builds in energy. "I imagined a sailor's journey out to sea," Monsch mused, "leaving behind their family and homeland off to an adventure, but never to return." The next song is a tip of the hat to Rollins' album Way Out West (Contemporary Records, 1957). The band saddles up for "Clip-Clop," a sauntering melody on the back of a horse. "It turns out that as a child, I had a toy horse that was called Clip-Clop," Monsch revealed. "I discovered that after the fact, must've been tucked in the back of my memory."

The album's upbeat title song was written for a shotgun-style dive bar that Monsch, Unger and Durick played at every Sunday for years, as a trio called Flipside. "Brad would join us sometimes along with other local and out of town musicians. We played with zero abandon and worked out our sound at the Winedale Tavern. That's the old door on the back cover of the album. I took that photo before the bar closed." Monsch has developed a strong connection with the musicians he has worked with steadily over the years and, like him, they are people who think outside of the box and are unafraid to step out. "The guys on this album have been a huge influence and great friends as well. There is a comfort in the sound that comes with that."

His rhythm section is very efficient and creative at the same time, with Durick's mile-wide beat swings pairing fluidly with bassist Unger's combination of looseness and power. "Mind Dream" opens with a beautiful bass solo, then the piece dips into a modernist expression, one fit for the times but respectful and reflective of the past. Monsch came up with the melody, thinking of an Italian folk song. "It also has a pretty eerie quality to it and harmonically moves kind of unexpectedly," he said. "This version as a quintet, with David Pierce on accordion, really brought a different sound to the song. It is unedited and beautiful." The joyful triple-meter "Ruby's Dance" is literally about Monsch's dog Ruby, who does this little spin-around dance to get attention and then freezes. "That's what the melody does with its stops at the ends of phrases," he explained. Monsch set the melody, then Unger offered a restrained bass solo before the lush tones of Williams' piano nudged in for his turn before tossing out a chord like a juicy morsel of ribeye from the kitchen table for Monsch to chew on to the finish.

Rangy, freewheeling and frequently provocative, "Slippery" is equivocally like something that you can almost grasp but then it slips just out of reach. Monsch asserts it is one of the most difficult songs he has written. "I didn't plan to make it harmonically difficult, but it followed the melody and made sense. The melody is based off of a whole-half diminished scale, and it came together very fast for me, but the chords took some thinking about and it is a slippery one to play. Dennis plays so confidently and gave us such a solid base with a lot of freedom at the same time."

"Waves" reflects the waves of the pandemic and the emotions and unknowns that accompanied that. Williams does an ever subtle, beautiful job on his piano intro that really captures the mood of the song. The melody goes in and out of a dark and dissonant tone as it descends into rubato. To better incorporate solos, Monsch simultaneously grounds and stretches the margins. "It was in the midst of the pandemic and gigs were gone," he lamented. "Brad and I were doing a weekly online show. It was a strange time. I ended up rewriting this song, adding an ending that was in a fast 3 and more hopeful sounding. Then I added three harmony parts so it's more of a chamber orchestra with alto flute, trombone, and bass clarinet supporting the soprano sax melody. I overdubbed my other two parts for this one. I really felt like this was a good ending to the album." Monsch's long tones suggest undulating waves, the push and pull of riptide and, perhaps, the slight briny scent of seaweed. The nuanced interplay between his horns and the other instruments is concise and attentive. Certainly, his versatility on saxophone, alto flute and bass clarinet is showcased, but this is a group record, one you don't have to work hard at to enjoy. "I want people to go away humming a melody," he said hopefully. "That always feels like a win."

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