MONK ON VIOLA
“Monk on Viola” highlights Dumitriu’s ability to deconstruct Monk’s compositions, extracting unique elements and presenting them in a new light. The solo release captures the essence of Monk’s work while allowing Dumitriu’s broad aesthetic and Eastern European folk influences to shine through. His approach, marked by creativity and daring experimentation, offers an innovative look at Monk’s timeless music, making the album a compelling addition to the diverse interpretations of jazz standards in contemporary music.
Press quotes
There’s a certainly a novelty factor in a collection of solo Monk readings performed on viola, but what makes Monk on Viola (Evil Rabbit) so gripping is how George Dumitriu imparts and expands the elliptical phrasing of the composer with such originality and effectiveness. (…) The performance is truly astonishing. Peter Margasak, 1 May 2023, Nowhere Street
Monk on Viola succeeds in offering an innovative look at some very familiar music.
Karl Ackermann, 3 April 2023, Allaboutjazz
This album is about how the Monk substance emerge from the rich sonorities of the viola. Dumitriu achieve and illuminates it by playing with process and result in a dialectical way.
Henning Bolte, Europe Jazz Media Chart feb 2023
From the very first moment there was suspense and deep connection of the stock-still attentively listening audience to the rich subtle acoustic sounds of Dumitriu’s viola playing, both mutually reinforcing each other. The audience got immersed into a thrilling process of Dumitriu’s clever creation of dynamic Monk figurations emerging from it in ever surprising ways.
Henning Bolte, Bimhuis 3 feb 2023
..the way Dumitriu sheds new light on these compositions convinces and introduces you to a very engaged and capable performer and improviser.
Vital Weekly
Dumitriu is a gifted musician who gives Monk’s music different colors and atmospheres in an incomparable interpretation. In a loose improvisational style he approaches Monk in a way that almost leans towards modern classical and therefore extra pervasive.
Dick Hovenga, Written in Music
As Thelonius as can be, but at the same time with the discant whistle of extensive techniques and extremely virtuosic whetstones or dazzling harmonics, in which NowJazz – just think of Mat Maneri – and new music seem to spur each other on.
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy 117
It should be clear that Dumitriu has made an essential contribution to the rich catalog of Monk interpretations with ‘Monk On Viola’.
Herman te Loo, 19 december 2022, jazz flits nummer 388
With this disc, George Dumitriu has set a solid stamp in the history of Monk’s interpretation. He is an excellent violist, who occasionally turns Monk into something that can almost be interpreted as Norwegian folk music, before he goes out to the left and gives us beautiful interpretations.
I am convinced that blessed Monk would have loved this music!
Jan Granlie, 5 January 2023, Salt Peanuts