Genius of Modern Music

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Genius Of Modern Music
Studio album by Thelonious Monk

Publication
(s)

1947

Label (s) Blue Note Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

jazz

occupation

production

Alfred Lion

Studio (s)

New York City

chronology
Thelonious Monk
(1956) 		Genius Of Modern Music Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington
(1956)
Template: Info box music album / maintenance / parameter error

Genius Of Modern Music (Vol. 1 & Vol 2) is the title of two jazz albums first published in 1956 by the pianist and composer Thelonious Monk with recordings from 1947 to 1952 for the record label Blue Note Records .

Edition history of records

They contain the pieces from six recording sessions from October 15, 1947 to May 30, 1952 for the jazz label Blue Note Records , where they were first released as 78 records, then as 10-inch LP 's, and later as 12-inch LP's are. All Blue Note recordings are now available as CDs; including recordings with Sonny Rollins on April 14, 1957 and John Coltrane on September 11, 1958, it was released as The Complete Blue Note Recordings in a 4-CD box.

The recordings

Monk as a key figure in modern jazz

At the time of his first recordings on Blue Note, Thelonious Monk was 30 years old and a key figure in modern jazz - although he had only recorded four tracks with Coleman Hawkins and had taken part in the legendary sessions at Minton's Playhouse , which later went under the name of the guitarist Charlie Christian appeared. Hawkins, Cootie Williams , Dizzy Gillespie , Kenny Clarke and Bud Powell had recorded some of his compositions. In the three sessions of 1947 those ten compositions were recorded that will make his fame for the next decade and are examples of the pianist's bursting creative energy.

The October 15, 1947 session

The saxophonist Ike Quebec , then musical director at Blue Note Records , brought Monk into contact with Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff from the record label; they were very interested in getting modern jazz out on record. Quebec contributed two pieces for the first session ( Evonce, Suburban Eyes ) and ensured that his then seventeen-year-old cousin, Danny Quebec West, was allowed to play. Tenor saxophonist Billy Smith is forgotten today. Trumpeter Idrees Sulieman , bassist Gene Ramey , a Charlie Parker colleague from the Jay McShann Band and drummer Art Blakey , who started his career with Blue Note in the same year, also played. The pieces from the first session, such as Humph or Evonce , still half breathe the spirit of bebop , says Günther Huesmann , even if Monk is the one here who clearly eludes the formula repertoire of this then still fresh jazz style.

The session of October 24, 1947

Nine days later the second Blue Note session took place with the same rhythm section; due to the absence of the wind section, Monk's music dominated much more strongly. His four compositions Ruby, My Dear , Well You Needn't , Off Minor and Introspection , the George Gershwin classic Nice Work If You Can Get It and the jazz standard by Vernon Duke ' April in Paris were recorded . Nice Work had already been a classic at the Minton’s sessions; the later jazz standard Well You Needn't , which would later become popular through Miles Davis ' interpretation, appears here for the first time on record. Tadd Dameron took over the chord progression for his composition Dameronia : Off Minor - also called What Now - had already been recorded by Bud Powell shortly before . Monk arranged introspection for the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band in 1946 and is one of his lesser-known pieces.

The November 21, 1947 session

On November 21st (before any of the previous exceptions were released) the next, third Blue Note session took place. In a quintet line-up with Art Blakey, Sahib Shihab , Monk's favorite alto saxophonist during this period, and trumpeter George “Flip” Taitt, who occasionally stood in for Sulieman in Monk's band, and the unknown bassist Bob Paige. The British jazz critic Jack Cooke wrote about this session that the line-up with two horns had initial significance for the later hard bop . Walked Bud is a tribute Monks to his colleague Bud Powell , a processing of the composition Blue Skies . Monk's Mood was originally called Feeling This Way Now and is considered one of Thelonious Monk's most perfect compositions. With the composition Who Knows Monk's teammates had a hard time (several takes had to be recorded). Round Midnight (or Round About Midnight , as it was called on the original 78 record), is now considered the classic Monk composition: Cootie Williams first recorded the ballad in 1944 (and himself for his efforts as co- Author inserted) and Dizzy Gillespie two years later added an introduction and a coda and recorded it. The version played here is based on that of Gillespie.

Milt Jackson, New York, around 1947.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

The session of July 2, 1948

The session on July 2, 1948 is one of Monk's most legendary, due to the extraordinary match between the pianist Monk and the vibraphonist Milt Jackson . Günther Huesmann writes that the pearly, shimmering river of Milt Jackson's vibraphone complements the bizarre angularity of Monk's piano sound in a wonderful way.

Other players are bassist John Simmons and drummer Rossiere Shadow Wilson. As a guest at this session , singer Kenny Hagood , who - like Milt Jackson - played with Monk in Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band, will be performing on two tracks ( All the Things You Are , I Should Care ) . I Should Care was one of the well-known ballads of the 1940s and was later recorded solo by Monk ( Thelonious Himself , 1957). The classic Monk composition Evidence is based on the chords of Just You, Just Me .

Misterioso ( called Mysterioso on the original 78 record ) is one of Monk's most famous compositions: Gunther Schuller called it the summation of all Monk's work at the time, and a wonderful example of Monk's artistic mastery both in his solo and in the compositional system .

Kenny Clarke is the co-author of Epistrophy , which is rhythmically identical to Salt Peanuts , which Clarke composed with Dizzy Gillespie. Cootie Williams first recorded the piece in 1942; the first published version recorded Kenny Clarke in 1946 in France with the 52nd Street Boys .

I Mean You was first recorded by Coleman Hawkins in 1946 with the participation of Milt Jackson .

The session of July 23, 1951

It would take three years before the next recording session for Blue Note came about. The July 23 session led to another encounter with Sahib Shihab , Milt Jackson and Art Blakey ; bassist Al McKibbon joined for the first time .

The very first piece, Four In One, shows the development Monk and his companions have taken since their last meeting in the studio. The composition is one of the pianist's classic recordings. The same applies to the following Criss Cross : Gunther Schuller emphasized the importance of this piece, because it has a purely instrumental conception. "It is not a song in the conventional sense, it is a composition for instruments, but the most radical aspect of Criss Cross is its abstraction, just like an abstract painter works with non-objective patterns." Monk can place rhythms in Criss Cross , says Günther Huesmann that they create a melodic effect. The pianist Monk phrases with such an idiosyncratic touch that the notes seem to “dance”.

Eronel is a lesser known composition; It is unclear whether Sulieman and the pianist Sadik Hakim can claim co-authorship.

The Blues Straight No Chaser became one of Monk's most famous compositions and from 1958 a jazz standard . The session ended with two ballads, Ask Me Now and Willow Weep for Me .

The May 30, 1952 session

Monk's May 30, 1952 session would be his last for Blue Note Records as a band leader; he expanded his band to a sextet with the trumpeter Kenny Dorham , the alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson and the tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson ; Added to this were the now-forgotten bassist Nelson Boyd and the drummer Max Roach , who, like Blakey, fit perfectly into Monk's musical conception. Of the pieces played at the time, only Let's Cool One, Skippy, Hornin 'In and Carolina Moon were released as a 78-record record. The latter piece was written in 6/4 time and is based on Un Poco Loco by Bud Powell . The other pieces were I'll Follow You (a hit from 1932) and Sixteen (based on a similar chord progression as Sonny Rollins was supposed to use for Doxy ), which were only released after Monk's death.

The Blue Note Sessions

Instrumentation and pieces in chronological order

1. New York (WOR Studios) - October 15, 1947 Idrees Sulieman (tp), Danny Quebec West (as), Billy Smith (ts), Thelonious Monk (p), Gene Ramey (b), Art Blakey (dr)

  • Humph (monk)
  • Evonce (alt. Take) (Sulieman / Quebec)
  • Evonce (Sulieman / Quebec)
  • Suburban Eyes (Quebec)
  • Suburban Eyes (alt. Take) (Quebec)
  • Thelonious

2. New York (WOR Studios) - October 24, 1947 Monk (p), Gene Ramey (b), Art Blakey (dr)

  • Nice Work If You Can Get It (Gershwin)
  • Ruby My Dear (alt. Take)
  • Ruby My Dear
  • Well You Needn't (alt. Take)
  • Well you needn't
  • April In Paris (alt. Take) (Duke / Harburg)
  • April In Paris (Duke / Harburg)
  • Introspection

3. New York (WOR Studios) - November 21, 1947 George Taitt (tp), Sahib Shihab (as), Monk, Bob Paige (b), Art Blakey (dr)

  • In walked bud
  • Monk's Mood
  • Who Knows
  • 'Round Midnight
  • Who Knows (alt. Take)

4. New York (Apex Studios) - July 2, 1948 Milt Jackson (vib), Monk (p), John Simmons (b), Shadow Wilson (dr), Kenny Hagood (voc)

Milt Jackson (vib), Monk (p), John Simmons (b), Shadow Wilson (dr)

  • Evidence
  • Misterioso
  • Misterioso (alt. Take)
  • Epistrophy (Monk / Kenny Clarke)
  • I mean you

5. New York (WOR Studios) - July 23, 1951 Sahib Shihab (as), Milt Jackson (vib), Monk (p), Al McKibbon (b), Art Blakey (dr)

  • Four in one
  • Four In One (alt. Take)
  • Criss Cross
  • Criss Cross (alt. Take)
  • Eronel
  • Straight no chaser
  • Ask Me Now (alt. Take) without Shahib and Jackson
  • Ask Me Now without Shahib and Jackson
  • Willow Weep for Me (A. Ronell), excluding Sahib Shahib

6. New York (WOR Studios) May 30, 1952 Kenny Dorham (tp), Lou Donaldson (as), Lucky Thompson (ts), Monk (p), Nelson Boyd (b), Max Roach (dr)

  • Skippy
  • Skippy (alt. Take)
  • Hornin 'In (alt. Take)
  • Hornin 'in
  • Sixteen (fist take)
  • Sixteen (second take)
  • Carolina Moon (Davis / Burke)
  • Let's cool one
  • I'll Follow You (Turk / Ahlert, without Dorham, Donaldson and Thompson)

Blue Note era singles

Blue Note 500 series (10 inch 78 rpm)

  • BN 542 Suburban Eyes (BN310-1) / Thelonious (BN311-0)
  • BN 543 Well, You Needn't (BN314-0) / 'Round About Midnight (BN321-1)
  • BN 547 Evonce (BN309-4) / Off Minor (BN317-1)
  • BN 548 In Walked Bud (BN318-3) / Epistrophy (BN330-0)
  • BN 549 Ruby, My Dear (BN313-1) / Evidence (BN328-0)
  • BN 560 Humph (BN308-2) / Misterioso (BN329-0)

Blue Note 1200 series (10 inch 78 rpm)

Blue Note 1500 series (10 inch 78 rpm)

  • BN 1564 I Mean You (BN331-1) / Symphonette (BN334-1) ["Symphonette" was not recorded by Monk, but by Tadd Dameron ]
  • BN 1565 Monk's Mood (BN319-0) / Who Knows (BN320-0)
  • BN 1575 Nice Work If You Can Get It (BN312-1) / April in Paris (BN315-1)
  • BN 1589 Four in One (BN392-1) / Straight, No Chaser (BN395-0)
  • BN 1590 Criss Cross (BN393-0) / Eronel (BN394-0)
  • BN 1591 Ask Me Now (BN396-1) / Willow Weep for Me (BN397-0)
  • BN 1602 Skippy (BN434-1 tk.2) / Let's Cool One (BN438-0 tk.11)
  • BN 1603 Hornin 'In (BN435-3 tk.7) / Carolina Moon (BN437-0 tk.10)

Blue Note 1600 series (7 inch 45 rpm)

  • BN 45-1664 'Round About Midnight "(BN321-1) / In Walked Bud (BN318-3)
  • BN 45-1646 Lillie Milt Jackson (BN423-1 tk.4) / Willow Weep for Me (BN397-0) [publ. under the name of Milt Jackson]

Editorial notes

The CD Genius Of Modern Music Vol. 1 (Blue Note CCP 300089) contains the recordings from 1947; the CD Genius Of Modern Music Vol. 2 (Blue Note CCP 300090) contains the recordings from 1951–52; the pieces Epistrophy and Misterioso, recorded in 1948 under Milt Jackson's direction, are missing . However, these are included on the 4-CD edition.

The Complete Blue Note Recordings also appeared on the 4 CD edition

  • the two pieces from the Sonny Rollins album Sonny Rollins Vol. 1 (Blue Note) the two tracks that Thelonious Monk composed and accompanied: Reflections and Misterioso . Other players are Paul Chambers (b) and Art Blakey, recorded in the Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, on April 14, 1957.
  • The recordings from the New York jazz club " Five Spot " on September 11, 1958 with John Coltrane , Ahmed Abdul-Malik (b), Roy Haynes (dr) with the titles Crespuscule With Nellie, Trinkle Tinkle, In walked Bud, I Mean You and epistrophy .

The Blue Note compilation Thelonious Monk - The Best of the Blue Note Years includes the most important master takes of the six sessions from 1947–52 and offers a successful overview of Monk's creative phase.

reception

The music magazine Jazzwise added the album to The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World list ; Brian Priestley wrote:

“ Those early Monk records, initially released as '78 singles, had disappeared without a trace when only a handful of customers noticed the LP compilation in the mid-1950s. Blue Note was so convinced of Monk that they recorded these three sessions in little more than a month, leading to the first ensemble versions of 'Round Midnight', 'Ruby My Dear', 'Thelonious' and' In Walked Bud 'to arrive. With the possible exception of Idrees [Sulieman], the soloists were not up to the level of the pianist. Still, the wonderful Blakey is in top form early on. "

Literature and Sources

Web links / sources

Notes / sources

  1. ↑ a b quot. according to Huesmann
  2. ↑ cit. after Günther Huesmann: Recordings of the century of jazz
  3. ↑ Simmons lived from 1918 to 1979, worked with musicians from mainstream jazz and modern jazz .
  4. ↑ Wilson lived from 1919 to 1959 and played in the Count Basie Orchestra for Jo Jones and in the band from Illinois Jacquet . In the legendary Five Spot concert with John Coltrane in 1958 he was supposed to play again for Monk
  5. ↑ The recording did not appear on record until 20 years later
  6. ↑ In between, Monk only took part in a recording session with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and as a companion for a now forgotten singer named Frankie Passions
  7. ↑ McKibbon had already worked with the other musicians (except for Jackson) in the 1940s. In the Giants Of Jazz tours 1971/72 and Monk's last recordings in London for the jazz label Black Lion , they should meet again
  8. ↑ cit. after Blumenthal, p. 25
  9. ^ The composer of all other pieces, except where indicated, is Th. Monk
  10. ↑ Original: " These early Monk sides almost sank without trace when first issued as 78rpm singles, and it was only because of a LP selection under this title in the mid-1950s that more than a handful of punters took any notice. Blue Note, though, were so into Monk that they'd done these three sessions in little more than a month, just to get the first small-group versions of 'Round Midnight', 'Ruby My Dear', 'Thelonious' and' In Walked Bud 'among others. With the possible exception of Idrees, the soloists weren't up to the pianist's level. Yet the miraculous Blakey is at his early best ".
  11. ↑ The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World ( Memento of the original from July 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jazzwisemagazine.com