Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Thelonious MONK Plays Duke Ellington 1956


Thelonious MONK Plays Duke Ellington 1956

Jazz

Like Money Jungle, the later collaboration between Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, this collection of Ellingtonia showed how much a modernist the Duke really was. Without a doubt, Ellington is more clearly recalled as an architect of the Swing Era, but in Monk's hands, Ellington's tunes sound as pregnant with post-swing potential as anything in the bebop canal. Monk recorded these tunes at the request of Riverside Records founder Orrin Keepnews, who knew how idiosyncratic the pianist was, and rather than produce literal transcriptions, Monk went all over the map. Stride shades drop in amid the off-center melody statements. And shot throughout all the tunes is Monk's persistently interstitial approach, whereby he spots seams and creases in every phrase and then fills, comments on, and dances around them. As the first chapter, if you will, in the Complete Riverside box set, this makes a great platform for viewing Monk's ascent into unbridled genius.
By Andrew Bartlett.
**
Personnel Thelonious Monk- (Piano);
Oscar Pettiford- (Bass);
Kenny Clarke- (Drums).
**
With this recording, Monk began his tenure at Riverside Records, which was very fruitful and lasted till around the early sixties when Columbia stole him away. The idea was that Monk was gaining popularity, but he was still a tough act to get used to for a lot of people because of the idiosyncratic compositions and piano style. So they suggested an album of someone else's material, to let those less familiar with Monk get used to his playing before confronting the genius of his writing. And who better than Duke to supply the material--Duke, whose playing, along with James P. Johnson and some of the other stride players, influenced Monk a great deal. The result is--surprise, surprise--an absolutely brilliant record. Ellington is reinvented, as is anyone lucky enough to be filtered through Monk's genius. The most wonderful thing is that there is no conflict of musical personalities, no struggle between the old and the new. There is more than enough room for both, and these recordings turn out to be at once purely Ellington and purely Monk. And Thelonious is helped in no small part by drummer Kenny Clarke and bassist Oscar Pettiford, two of the best players of their time. The highlights are every song.
By Daniel Fineberg.
**
A1. It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing 4:38
A2. Sophisticated Lady 4:28
A3. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good 5:53
A4. Black And Tan Fantasy 3:24

B1. Mood Indigo 3:13
B2. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart 5:40
B3. Solitude 3:42
B4. Caravan 5:55
**
NoPassword
*
DLink
*

No comments:

Post a Comment