I love music more than almost everything else in life. I quite fancy myself: but then, who doesn't?...
I love music more than almost everything else in life. I quite fancy myself: but then, who doesn't? Please enjoy my opinions.
Member since:07.05.2005
Reviews:11
Members who trust:1
Thelonious Monk is unquestionably one of the greatest musicians of the last century. Joyous, wild, insane, romantic, ecstatic, otherwordly, desperate, monumental - and that's just his facial expressions. There are musicians who play their instruments, then there are musicians who just play, the instrument and the musician each being and becoming each other's instrument. Monk is one of these, and you won't find a better example of his greatness than on this record. Recorded in just a few days, every track here sounds like it burst out the sticky centre of a donut the size of the galaxy at the beginning of time, imploding with wonderous uncontrollably joy at the very fact of existence. The recordings themselves are so crisp and balanced that you can hear Monk humming and tapping along as he plays the piano with his whole body, somehow managing to envoke everything else you've ever heard on the piano. If you've never heard anything by Monk, this is the perfect place to start. If you have, this is a compulsory purchase. If you hate jazz, you'll still have to work very very hard to hate this. And in the end, why bother?
It might seem a bit pricey sometimes for a 45 minute record of solo performances, but a few extra pounds are definitely worth it and you can often get good deals on amazon etc.
Tracks:
1. Blue Monk 2. Ruby my dear 3. Round lights 4. Everything happens to me 5. You took the words right out of my heart 6. Bluehawk 7. Pannonica 8. Remember 9. There's danger in your eyes, Cherie (Take 2) 10. Reflections 11. There's danger in your eyes, Cherie (Take 1)
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Monk was a genius. Unfortunately, I don't know this album, only a few of the songs on it; but we nicked the cover art-work and modified it slightly for the ads to our illegal theatre production of T.Williams' "A Streetcar named Desire" once... *thosewerethetimes*
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