Live at the It Club

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Live at the It Club
Live album by Thelonious Monk

Publication
(s)

1982

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

12 (LP), 19 (CD)

running time

2:33:27 (CD)

occupation
  • Piano: Thelonious Monk

production

Teo Macero

Studio (s)

It Club, Los Angeles

chronology
Blue Sphere
(1979) 		Live at the It Club Live at the Jazz Workshop
(1982)
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Live at the It Club is a live album by Thelonious Monk . The recordings, which were made at two concerts by the Monk Quartet at the It Club in Los Angeles on October 31 and November 1, 1964, were released for the first time in 1982 as a double album and expanded to 19 tracks in 1998 as a compact disc on Columbia Records . The album features extensive versions of many of Monk's classic compositions, including "Blue Monk", " Well, You Needn't ", "Blues Five Spot", " Bemsha Swing ", "Evidence", "Nutty" and " Straight No Chaser ".

background

The first recording of the Thelonious Monk Quartet's concert at the It Club in Los Angeles (4731 W. Washington Boulevard) was made the evening after the pianist made studio recordings for the Columbia album Solo Monk . Shortly afterwards, on November 3rd and 4th, Thelonious Monk and his quartet of Charlie Rouse , Larry Gales and Ben Riley had another club guest appearance on the American West Coast, at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco; the recording was released under the title Live at the Jazz Workshop in 1982 on Columbia Records.

The recording of the two concerts at the It Club was first published in 1982 on two LPs in an edited form; the 2-CD edition from 1998 largely restored the original concert schedule.

Track list

Double LP (1982)

  • Thelonious Monk - Live at the It Club (Columbia - C2 38030)

A1 Blue Monk 7:30
A2 Well You Needn't 7:35
A3 'Round Midnight (Hanighen, Williams, Monk) 6:35

B1 Rhythm-a-ning 6:55
B2 Blues Five Spot (Five Spot Blues) 5:50
B3 Bemsha Swing ( Denzil Best , T. Monk) 5:30

C1 Straight No Chaser 4:30
C2 Nutty 7:35
C3 Evidence 5:45

D1 Misterioso 8:20
D2 Gallop's Gallop 5:15
D3 Ba-Blue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are 6:25

  • All other compositions are by Thelonious Monk.

CD edition (1998)

  • Monk - Live at the It Club - Complete (Columbia - C2K 65288, Legacy - C2K 65288)
CD 1
  1. Blue Monk 11:19
  2. Well, You Needn't 9:17
  3. 'Round Midnight (Hanighen, Williams *, Monk) 6:32
  4. Rhythm-a-ning 10:09
  5. Blues Five Spot 10:13
  6. Bemsha Swing (Best, Monk) 8:34
  7. Evidence 8:37
  8. Nutty 10:48
  9. Epistrophy (Theme) ( Kenny Clarke , Th. Monk) 1:00
CD 2
  1. Straight, No Chaser 7:15
  2. Teo 10:54
  3. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You ( George Bassman , Ned Washington ) 12:28
  4. Misterioso 8:22
  5. Gallop's Gallop 5:17
  6. Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are 9:01
  7. Bright Mississippi 9:47 am
  8. Just You, Just Me (J. Greer, R. Klages) 6:14
  9. All the Things You Are (O. Hammerstein II-J. Kern) 6:40
  10. Epistrophy (Theme) (Clarke, Monk) 1:09

reception

Ken Dryden awarded the album four stars in Allmusic and praised that Monk's band was in excellent shape, with Monk being clearly stimulated by the dense play of his rhythm section and Rouse's strong action. The second LP offers some surprises: The band leader brings less frequently played compositions such as “Teo” (an homage to his producer Teo Macero ) and the obscure, challenging “Gallop's Gallop”, originally by Monk for a Savoy during a session with Gigi Gryce ( Nica's Tempo ) was recorded. Monk's humor is expressed in his interpretation of the standard “ I'm Getting Sentimental Over You ”, which in the introduction plays his side piano and slapstick “Bright Mississippi” (a revision of the chord changes from “ Sweet Georgia Brown ").

Critic Bob Blumenthal rated Live at the It Club as "an incredible inventory of classic Monk," which serves as the "main document of how [Monk's] band sounded during this prolific period."

According to Thomas Fitterling, Monk was “in the friendly and stimulating club atmosphere with a much better playing mood than at the studio appointments for his solo album in those days. Still, you've heard him play better on record about the same well-known Monk classics. ”The live atmosphere was even more stimulating for Charlie Rouse and the rhythm team, says Fitterling. "Less polished, leaving the studio-technical elegance behind, they sometimes play quite hearty and edgy." One of the highlights is the version of "Gallop's Gallop", a tricky AABA composition, related to bebop , at an attractive, medium-fast pace.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thelonious Monk - Live At The It Club. Reviews of the 100 greatest jazz albums, February 1, 2020, accessed February 19, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ a b Blumenthal, Bob (1998). Monk: Live at the It Club (CD Booklet). Thelonious Monk. Columbia / Legacy. P. 6. C2K 65288.
  4. ↑ Thelonious Monk - Live at the It Club at Discogs
  5. ↑ Monk - Live at the It Club - Complete at Discogs
  6. ↑ Thomas Fitterling: Thelonious Monk. His life, his music, his records. Oreos, Waakirchen 1987, ISBN 3-923657-14-5 .