ALBUM REVIEW / JAZZ : Monk Finds ‘The Charm’ as Leader of Little Big Band : T. S. MONK “The Charm” ***, <i> Blue Note</i>

Drummer T. S. Monk appears to be functioning as the Art Blakey of the ‘90s, leading a little big band (three horns and rhythm) that plays every piece it touches with an irrepressible drive. Like Blakey, Monk (Thelonious’ son) provides a surging percussive impetus to the music’s underpinnings, as well as the kind of crisp drum fills that enhance the music’s compositional framework.

His third album for Blue Note is bursting with hard-swinging, well-arranged tunes by Clifford Jordan, Walter Davis Jr., Melba Liston and--from the band--Ronnie Mathews and Bobby Porcelli. The single familiar item is a slow-train jaunt through Thelonious Monk’s “Bolivar Blues” that spotlights Mathews’ Monkish piano solo and a passionately preaching set of tenor saxophone choruses by Willie Williams.

But the real star here is the ensemble Monk has put together--a group that can excite as much with its collective groove as it can with its first-rate soloing. Another fine outing from a too-often-overlooked artist and leader.