Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960
| Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 | ||||
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| Studio album by Thelonious Monk | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Sam Records , Saga Records | |||
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Format (s) |
2 CD, 2 LP, download |
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Title (number) |
16 |
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Zev Feldman , François Le Xuan and Fred Thomas |
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Studio (s) |
Nola Penthouse Studio New York City |
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Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 is a jazz album by pianist Thelonious Monk . It was written on July 27, 1959 in New York City and was used as part of the soundtrack in the film Dangerous Liaisons by Roger Vadim . After the recordings were lost since then, they were rediscovered in 2014 and appeared on June 16, 2017 as a joint production of the Sam Records and Saga Records label.
background
While researching recordings by French saxophonist Barney Wilen, music producers François Le Xuan from Saga Jazz and Fred Thomas from Sam Records came across tapes that the underwater filmmaker and jazz fan Laurent Guenon had received from his friend Marcel Romano , who died in 2007 . During the Nouvelle Vague era, he had produced film soundtracks such as Ascenseur pour l'échafaud with music by Miles Davis for the film of the same name by Louis Malle , Des femmes disparaissent and Un témoin dans la ville , both by Édouard Molinaro . In addition to Art Blakey, he had also won over the New York pianist Thelonious Monk for Vadim's film, who should have come to Paris for the recordings; Romano had already booked a short engagement for the pianist at Club Saint-Germain and a guest appearance at the Paris Olympia . But Monk was in a deep crisis at that time, had lost his musician license because of violating the Narcotics Act and could no longer perform in nightclubs. Therefore Romano and Vadim flew to New York in May 1959; but the possibility of accepting Monk was visibly delayed. To be on the safe side, Romano commissioned jazz pianist Duke Jordan to compose the music for the film.
When the session finally took place, Monk had no time to compose new music for the film that would have matched the rough cut of the film. Instead, Monk simply played several of his own compositions such as "Rhythm-A-Ning", "Crepuscule with Nellie" and " Well You Needn't " on July 27, 1959 at the Nola Penthouse Sound Studio in New York ; there was also the gospel hymn "We'll Understand it Better, By and By". Monk was accompanied by Sam Jones (bass), Art Taylor (drums) and the saxophonists Charlie Rouse and Barney Wilen. Roger Vadim and his musical advisor Maurice Leroux then decided afterwards how to use Monk's recordings in the film.
Music of the album
Monk played several tracks from his songbook, two versions of "Crepuscule With Nellie", also "Well, You Needn't", "Light Blue" and "Rhythm-a-Ning", as well as four versions of "Pannonica" and "Ba- Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are ”,“ Six in One ”and“ We'll Understand It Better By and By ”. The second CD contains a number of alternative takes , including a nearly fifteen-minute “ making-of ” of the piece “Light Blue”, in which Monk and Art Taylor rehearse and sound out the inserts and the intricate rhythm of the composition.
Track list
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- Thelonious Monk - Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 (Sam Records SRS-1-CD, Saga SRS-1-CD)
CD 1
- Rhythm-a-Ning - 5:47
- Crepuscule With Nellie - 5:16
- Six in One - 4:28
- Well, You Needn't - 4:57
- Pannonica (solo) - 2:27
- Pannonica (solo) - 2:55
- Pannonica (Quartet) - 6:20
- Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are - 6:57
- Light Blue - 2:47
- By and By (We'll Understand It Better By and By) - 1:47
CD 2
- Rhythm-a-Ning (Alternate) - 5:36
- Crepuscule With Nellie (Take 1) - 2:29
- Pannonica (45 Masters) - 6:53
- Light Blue (45 Master) - 4:09
- Well, You Needn't (Unedited) - 6:47
- Light Blue (Making of) - 14:13
- All compositions except By and By (We'll Understand It Better By and By) , written by Charles Albert Tindley , are by Thelonious Monk.
reception
Andrian Kreye wrote in the Süddeutsche Zeitung : “You wo n't have to rewrite music history . But you can hear Thelonious Monk in top form and in studio quality. He's a little more melancholy than usual, but also more focused. [...] With the historical superstructure aside, the discovery gave the world a wonderful, brilliant milestone album from 1959. It's a sensation, no matter how big or small you want to make it. ”Monk's son TS Monk is also of the opinion that this music shows his father at the height of his work and assumes that“ this is one of the reasons why his father wanted to be particularly good because it was about a French film: 'In America he had to be constantly justified and questioned. They didn't believe in him until a brief period in the early 1960s when he got a contract with Columbia . '"
Thomas Krebs said in the jazz newspaper that the album conveys “real listening pleasure: musically as well as qualitatively. [...] There was obviously a good atmosphere and positive vibes on that day. Monk's wife Nelli, his then nine and a half year old son “Toot” Thomas (sic!) Sphere , daughter “Boo Boo” Barbara and also Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter were present in the studio and contributed with their presence to the musicians “trusting “Monk compositions drew energy for great interpretations . Monk didn't have the strength to compose new pieces for the film, so he played his originals and a gospel with the musicians. "
Nenad Georgievsky wrote in All About Jazz that Les Liaisons Dangereuses was more than just an ordinary addition to the Monk catalog; it is an excellent collection that sheds new light on one of the most revered and mysterious artists in jazz.
Mark Sullivan also noted in All About Jazz: Even if the recordings can be called historical, they are not essential because of the fact that they are another unreleased Monk album. Still, there are some unusual elements, such as one of only two cases in Monk's discography in which he plays with two tenor saxophonists (the other case is Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk (published in 1960 by Riverside) with Charlie Rouse and Harold Land ). It also includes two versions of the rarely played track "Light Blue" and an unaccompanied blues improvisation entitled "Six in One" (which appeared slightly different as "Round Lights" on the Riverside solo album Thelonious Alone in San Francisco ) and "We ' ll Understand It Better By and By ”, which Monk no longer recorded. Apart from these rarities, the program of the session is recommended for every Monk fan.
The American National Public Radio deals with the connection between music and film action; in the case of Pannonica , played in the quartet version, “a work of delicate beauty”, Monk's music underscores the romantic mood in which the protagonists Valmont and Juliette de Merteuil find themselves, played by Gérard Philipe and Jeanne Moreau ; they play a married couple who encourage each other to have extramarital affairs. “Pannonica” accompanies the scene in which Valmont first meets Cécile, a young woman who will be his latest conquest. “The music starts when their eyes meet. With Monk's dissonant blue notes , Valmont's dark character is underlined; and saxophonist Charlie Rouse hits the tune of the song by emphasizing Valmont's intentions with his playing style ”.
When Jazz Critics Poll of National Public Radio , the album won in the category Rara Avis in 2017 the first place.
Editor's note
The music was released in compact disk format on two CDs, as a 2-LP box and as a download. The edition is complemented by a 60-page booklet with black-and-white and color photos of the session and essays by Alain Tercinet , Robin DG Kelley (author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original ) and Brian Priestley .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Andrian Kreye: Neue Welle - Thelonious Monks rediscovered film music for Les liaisons dangereuses in Süddeutsche Zeitung on June 27, 2017, p. 12 Also online , accessed on July 4, 2017.
- ↑ Review of the album in Pitchfork
- ↑ a b c Thomas Krebs in Jazzzeitung (2017)
- ↑ a b Thelonious Monk - Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 on Discogs and on Youtube
- ↑ cit. n. Reinhard Köchl Monks Schatz , Die Zeit, April 7, 2017
- ^ Nenad Georgievsky: Review of Nenad Georgievsky's album in All About Jazz (2017)
- ↑ Review of Mark Sullivan's album (2017) in All About Jazz
- ↑ Songs We Love: Thelonious Monk, 'Pannonica (Quartet) in NPR (2017)
- ^ Francis Davis: The 2017 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. NPR, December 20, 2017, accessed March 31, 2019 .