most albums of the music of Thelonious Monk made by anyone other than Monk himself tended to end up as solo-theme-solo blowing sessions which detracted from Monk's skill as a composer. It's easy to see what Summer means and also refreshing to hear how his own solution to the problem is in many ways as innovative as Monk's original thinking. Rather than settling for cloning the originals and then just slapping a guitar part on top, Summers has expertly deconstructed a cluster of Monk favourites and then reassembled them with guitar parts elegantly integrated into the structure of each piece. Predictably, the selection includes "Brilliant Corners", "'Round Midnight" and so on, while the presence of Sting as guest vocalist on the latter and Summers' ability to rustle up some powerful jazz company for this recording (including Peter Erskine and Hank Roberts) is also par for the course. What's less easy to anticipate is theconstant innovation of Summers' interpretations. A commendable project.--Roger Thomas
Album Notes: Thelonious Monk Septet: Thelonious Monk (piano); Gigi Gryce (alto saxophone); Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Ray Copeland (trumpet); Wilbur Ware (acoustic bass); Art Blakey (drums). Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios, New York, New York on June 26, 1957. Originally released on Riverside (242). Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews. This historic 1957 session, beginning with Monk's favorite hymn ("Abide With Me") and ending with the composer's most affecting ballad ("Crepescule With Nellie"), functions as an overview of his career. As such, MONK'S MUSIC, Thelonious' fifth album for the Riverside label, is a shot across the bow of the hard bop movement. A cubist intro by Monk and Wilbur Ware sets the tone for an extended seven-piece rendition of the pianist's classic "Well, You Needn't," with a fiery underpinning by Art Blakey. Monk is at his angular, bluesy best, opening with Charlie Christian-like percussive accents. He grows more taciturn in the second chorus, unleashing some of his most dynamic rhythmic devices before crying out for "Coltrane, Coltrane." Monk, Ware and Blakey drive Trane relentlessly, and the tenor giant responds with taut, screaming lyricism. Monk responds to Copeland's Gillespie-ish shouts with child-like glee, then recedes as Blakey ghosts Ware's dark, driving punctuations before his own polyrhythmic explosion. Coleman Hawkins enters on the crest of a drum roll with operatic fervor, followed by a feline Gigi Gryce, a coy Monk and a final reprise of the theme. A classic moment in jazz. But MONK'S MUSIC contains numerous highlights. Contrast Hawkins' elegant, barrel-chested machismo on the ballad "Ruby, My Dear" with Trane's rendition a year later on THELONIOUS MONK WITH JOHN COLTRANE. There are two takes of "Off Minor," one of Monk's most swinging lines. Hawkins comes off the starting blocks of the master take like a pit bull, Copeland responds in kind, and Monk follows with dissonant shards of counterpoint and harmonic subversion. Coltrane draws first blood on the spooky "Epistrophy," obviously inspired by Hawkins' steely melodic focus and Monk's probing cross-rhythms; Gryce's solo illustrates his fresh approach to the alto, and Blakey's solo, with its crushing rolls and extraordinary bent tones, is a masterpiece.
Advantages: Intimate, excellent recording of the master of jazz piano alone doing what he does best. Disadvantages: There's just not enough of it.
...TheloniousMonk 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...
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Advantages: Calming and soothing music. Disadvantages: The tracks all generally resemble one another.
...This CD has been immensely popular as of late and even reached high into the music charts- not usual for Gregorian chanting I am sure!
It's popularity may be due to the fact that it is an immensely relaxing album- the soothing singing of the monks is guaranteed to send one to sleep or just to put one into a state of relaxation.
Included in the CD are recordings of the bells of HeiligenKreuz also, but the majority of the album comprises of Gregorian chanting. It may be said that there is not a huge diversity of songs or a great difference between each track.
The CD lasts approximately one hour, and it is a great CD to listen to if you want to enjoy a calming hour without wanting a collection of greatly different tracks such as one would get with a modern artist or modern style of music.
Much of the CD is requiem...
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Advantages: Some good songs Disadvantages: Nothing compares to the first album though
...Monk lovin’ loner Jon Crosby returns with a full on band for VAST’s second album, Music for People. I won’t go on at length about the band though as I did that on my review of the first album and I hate it when people repeat themselves in front of me so I won’t do it to you. Suffice to say the mix of monks and NIN that was the main theme of the first album has been swirled around a bit. VAST go pop! Or at least they do in comparison to the first album; I’m not talking Britney here though.
* The Last One Alive *
Swirly synths, strummed acoustic guitars and a funky little bass line start the album off nicely. Then Jon Crosby comes in sounding rather peeved about something, whatever it is though he seems to getting over it in the dreamy chorus’s. “Na na na” vocals, backing singers (Note...
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helpful 07.06.2001
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