The Larry Gales solo below is taken from the record LIVE AT THE IT CLUB with Monk on piano, Charlie Rouse on sax and Ben Riley on drums. Although Gales’ solo is composed mainly of quarter notes, it has a deep swing that serves as a great reminder- it’s not how much you play but what you play…
Sorry it’s been so long since posting anything of substance. but I’m finally back with a nice solo by Thelonius Monk on the song “Black And Tan Fantasy” from his great record THELONIUS MONK PLAYS DUKE ELLINGTON. it features Oscar Pettiford on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. it’s a unique record because it (obviously) contains no Monk tunes. the album was intended as a soft-sell approach to attracting listeners who might have been hesitant to purchase a record by the “far out”, “weird” Monk. the record is indeed very subdued, not necessarily a bad thing to me. in fact, this is one of my absolute favorite Monk records. Monk’s respect for Ellington is obvious in his beautiful interpretations of a few of Ellington’s most well known compositions. the eerie thing about this record is that there are so many similarities between the music of Ellington and Monk that a listener could be forgiven for thinking that Monk is playing his own music. Monk’s solo from “Black And Tan Fantasy” is three choruses over a twelve bar blues form…
Here’s an article/ review about THELONUIS MONK: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL, a book by Robin D. G. Kelley. Written by David Yaffe and featured in the 1/11/10 issue of THE NATION…
“You know people have tried to put me off as being crazy,” said Thelonious Sphere Monk. “Sometimes it’s to your advantage for people to think you’re crazy.” He ought to have known. Monk was one of only a few jazz musicians to appear on the cover of Time magazine (others include Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Wynton Marsalis) and was celebrated as a genius by everyone who mattered. Bud Powell, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins could not have imagined (or transmuted) the language of jazz without him. Yet the pianist was also constantly underpaid and underappreciated, rejected as too weird on his way up and dismissed as old hat once he made his improbable climb. Performer and composer, eccentric and original, Monk was shrouded in mystery throughout his life. Not an especially loquacious artist (at least with journalists), he left most of his expression in his inimitable work, as stunning and unique as anyone’s in jazz–second only to Duke Ellington’s and perched alongside Charles Mingus’s…
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