An Open Letter to Thelonious
| An Open Letter to Thelonious | ||||
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| Studio album by Ellis Marsalis | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | ELM Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
59:51 |
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Studio (s) |
New Orleans |
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An Open Letter to Thelonious is a jazz album by the Ellis Marsalis Quartet, which plays compositions by Thelonious Monk . The recordings, which were made in New Orleans on October 27, 28 and November 7, 2007, were released on April 8, 2008 on ELM Records.
background
Like the standard Monk Quartet, Marsalis uses the saxophone and rhythm section configuration . On Open Letter to Thelonious , Ellis Marsalis recorded with saxophonist Derek Douget , bassist Jason Stewart and his son, drummer Jason Marsalis . When Ellis Marsalis previously performed live, he led basically the same group (instead of Jason Stewart with bassist Bill Huntington ) at Snug Harbor, New Orleans' premier jazz club, just outside the French Quarter . Marsalis plays solo in " 'Round Midnight ".
Track list
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- The Ellis Marsalis Quartet - An Open Letter to Thelonious (ELM Records 19787)
- Crepuscule with Nellie
- Jackie-Ing
- Epistrophy
- Monk's Mood
- Straight, no chaser
- Light Bue
- Teo
- Ruby, My Dear
- Rhythm-a-ning
- 'Round Midnight
- Evidence (Encore)
reception
Ken Dryden gave the album four stars in Allmusic and said that during the entire session Marsalis kept Monk's music alive with his inspired interpretations of the legend's compositions. One of the most difficult requirements for a jazz musician is to interpret someone else's works while using the same instrumentation as the composer, the author explains. The experienced pianist and jazz pedagogue Ellis Marsalis admitted that at a certain point in his career he was not objective about Thelonious Monk as a composer and preferred the bop of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker . But over time and with opening his ears to the subtle nuances of Monk's compositions, he's not too far removed from Monk's concept in these sessions.
Michael P. Gladstone wrote in All About Jazz that Ellis Marsalis' An Open Letter to Thelonious was more than just an homage to the mystique and magic of Thelonious Monk's music. The music on the album deliberately strives for a "monk" presentation, but is also representative of the individual members of this combo.
Also in All About Jazz , Woodrow Wilkins, who gave the album the highest rating of five stars, worked out the quality of the work using the example of “Jackie-ing”: This is “a delightful melody with Douget playing tenor. Like all other tracks on this album, it does justice to the original recording, but allows a certain creativity of the players. Jason Marsalis clearly accompanies his father on the cymbals during his solo. Stewart, though mostly in the background, is strong. Jason later delivers a captivating solo, scoring well on the snare and the toms. “You don't have to be a fan of Thelonious Monk - although it helps - to appreciate the efforts of the Ellis Marsalis Quartet. “An open letter” to Thelonious is exactly that, a message to the artist that says: “Thank you for the gift to us,” the author sums up. As with any open letter, it is a message that should be shared by everyone.
Thomas Conrad, who reviewed the album in JazzTimes , on the other hand, thinks it is tricky to play Monk, especially when you interpret it with the instrumentation of his own classical quartet. Monk and his tenor saxophone alter ego Charlie Rouse would have included many definitive versions of virtually every melody Monk ever wrote in their extensive Columbia discography. According to Conrad, the problem is that the tribute productions to Monk often sound a bit pale. When Thelonious Monk played “Jackie-ing”, he pressed this last chord in the third measure of the head “like a wild clang of warlike joy. Ellis Marsalis plays it with tamed sophistication, ”criticizes the author. Tenor saxophonist Derek Douget is a bigger problem. While every Charlie Rouse input was "an outburst of high-spirited swear words," Douget treads gently - even timidly - in every song. Ellis Marsalis' arrangements are always thoughtful and his own solos are always neat and musically appealing, but heavy Monk numbers like “ Straight No Chaser ” and “Rhythm-a-ning” are defused.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Michael P. Gladstone: Ellis Marsalis: An Open Letter to Thelonious. All About Jazz, July 4, 2008, accessed April 2, 2020 .
- ↑ An Open Letter to Thelonious at Discogs
- ^ Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved April 2, 2020.
- ↑ Woodrow Wilkins: Ellis Marsalis Quartet: An Open Letter to Thelonious. All AboutJazz, July 19, 2008, accessed April 2, 2020 .
- ^ Ellis Marsalis Quartet: An Open Letter to Thelonious. JazzTimes, April 26, 2019, accessed April 2, 2020 .