Thelonious MONK - Thelonious In Action 1958 (REPOST)

Thelonious MONK - Thelonious In Action 1958 (REPOST)
Recorded live at the Five Spot Cafe, New York,
On July 9 and August 7, 1958.
Label: Ojc/Riverside

Jazz

Among Thelonious Monk's brilliant musical associations, the one with tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin sometimes gets overlooked. This 1958 recording catches the quartet with bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik and drummer Roy Haynes on its home turf, New York's Five Spot Cafe. Griffin's gruffly compressed sound and high-speed, coiling lines are a fine foil for Monk's spare and pointed comping, bringing a distinct and special intensity to Monk's music. Together the group turns in classic renditions of familiar Monk tunes, including a brilliant Griffin performance of "Blue Monk."
By Stuart Broomer.
**
I own every Monk album commercially released and many others that were not, and the Five Spot recordings are my favorites of them all. Here in my opinion is the *perfect* Monk quartet. Each musician is a shining star melded into a super creative force. They KNOW this music. Griffin soars on sax, his bop chops impeccable. He knows Monk's changes inside out and wrings breathtaking surprises out of them. His playing is more Monk-ish than Rouse, Coltrane, etc. Abdul-Malik, probably the most underrated if not unknown jazz bassist, similarly makes his instrument sing here. He backs the group with drive and verve and his true-to-Monk solos are among the finest you will ever hear in a Monk group. Roy Haynes on drums is the perfect drummer for Monk, Blakey (except on the two Genius of Modern Music's) and Dunlop overpowered the music, and I love Blakey, because the always musical Roy Haynes got INSIDE with subtleties and textures that escape the others. His cymbal work is unparalled; his snare/bass drum interactions riveting, his solos creative, unexpected and thoroughly satisfying. Thelonious's playing on this disk is awesome. His chords, his comping, his solos, his timing... everything is so right! This was recorded at a time when the tunes were fresh, with lots left to explore. None of the repetitive pianistic cliches Monk seemed to favor later on in his career. I could run down the tunes track by track extolling everything even measure by measure, but suffice to say together these men were all at their peak creativity there in the Village in the late 50's and laid down musical history on these wonderous tracks. I have listened to "In Action" and "Misterioso" (the other equally great Five Spot recording) hundreds of times and never tire of it, the music is that superb. Let this one into your head! It demands repeated listenings. After a while pay attention to one musician at a time and just follow him because there are *artists* at work here. In sum, BUY IT.
YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED MONK.
By B. Matthews.
NEVER WITH THELONIOUS MONK, said > themonk
**
Thelonious Monk (Piano);
Johnny Griffin (Tenor Saxophone);
Ahmed Abdul-Malik (Bass);
Roy Haynes (Drums)
**
01. Light Blue    5.14
02. Coming On The Hudson    5.24
03. Rhythm-A-Ning    9.25
04. Epistrophy - (theme)    1.05
05. Blue Monk    8.31
06. Evidence    8.48
07. Epistrophy - (theme)    1.05
08. Unidentified Solo Piano (bonus track)    1.54
09. Blues Five Spot (bonus track)    9.55
10. In Walked Bud / Epistrophy - (theme) (bonus track)    10.57
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