Monk
| Monk | ||||
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| Live album by Thelonious Monk | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Gearbox Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
5 |
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running time |
41:52 |
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| occupation |
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Darrel Sheinman |
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Studio (s) |
Odd Fellow Palæet, Copenhagen |
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Mønk is a posthumously released album by Thelonious Monk . The recordings, which were made as part of the Monk Quartet's European tour in 1963 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen on March 5, 1963, were released on September 28, 2018 as a compact disc and in a limited form as an LP on Gearbox Records .
background
Monks' 1963 European tour was a huge hit for the pianist, said Robin Kelley, professor of American history at UCLA and author of Thelonious Monk: The Life And Times of an American Original (Free Press). “He hadn't done that much, but suddenly things were going for him. Personally, he was in a great place and he was a rising star in terms of his career. ”Kelley cited the pianist's new deal with Columbia Records , the stability of his quartet and his upcoming cover story in Time Magazine as a sign of Monk's breakup never been in a better situation.
"He's recorded a lot, the band had been together for two years and this return to Europe gave him the opportunity to really show off his music," said Kelley. "The tour was pretty well documented, but this performance in Copenhagen [at the 210-seat Odd Fellow Palwet] has never appeared."
As early as the spring of 1961, Thelonious Monk had performed in Copenhagen with his quartet, consisting of Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone), bassist John Ore (who came on for Butch Warren ) and Frankie Dunlop on drums; the recording of the Danish radio was released in 1996 by Storyville Records ( Monk in Copenhagen ). When Monk returned to Copenhagen two years later, his performance was again recorded by radio. The recordings contain nine compositions by Monk and a piano solo by Monk based on the standards " I'm Getting Sentimental Over You " and " Body and Soul ".
The original tape was a Scottish radio band from a collection of finds that producer Darrel Sheinman had bought from a Danish producer who had pulled them out of a dumpster about 20 years earlier. He wanted to use them for sampling and remixing during the heyday of acid jazz , but didn't have time. This resulted in a purely analog recording. The liner notes are from both Ethan Iverson and jazz writer Stephen Graham.
Track list
- Thelonious Monk Quartet - Mønk (Gearbox GB1541X)
- Bye-Ya 9:41
- Nutty 9:29
- I'm Getting Sentimental Over You (George Bassman) 8:44
- Body and Soul (Johnny Green) 5:43
- Monk's Dream 8:07
- All other compositions are by Thelonious Monk.
reception
"Of course, Monk was not only one of the most famous jazz composers of jazz, and still has perhaps the most unpredictable, rhythmic and weirdest piano style in the history of the instrument," wrote Jim Hymes in Glide Magazine. “Yes, that says a lot, but here he makes this case emphatically when he has the opportunity to unfold. Not only that, but if you listen to the other soloists, Monk's flair for accompaniment is almost unmatched. ”This is indeed Monk in his heyday, the author sums up.
The jazz expert Andreas Müller said in an interview on Deutschlandfunk that unfortunately no previously unreleased compositions by Monk would be brought to light on this album. Monks Quartet - u. a. with saxophonist Charlie Rouse - but can be seen here in top form. “With just a few chords, Monk develops a crazy tension and still lets the music float. And here you can hear his art of omission: where others play four or five chords, he basically leaves it with two. In 1963 - and even today - that is still exciting! ”Said Müller.
Chris May wrote in All About Jazz that the Gearbox label, founded in 2009 by record collector and Blue Note fan Darrel Sheinman, did a great job of purely analog audio upcycling. The sound is flawless, offers a real punch and the original mono is a model for other labels that wanted to publish similar discoveries.
Web links
- Sammy Stein: Thelonious Monk - Mønk (2018). Something Else, August 4, 2018, accessed February 27, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen Cerra: Monk in Copenhagen - 1963 . jazz profiles
- ↑ a b Chris May: Thelonious Monk: Mønk. All About Jazz, September 20, 2018, accessed February 27, 2020 .
- ↑ a b 'Monk' - Lost Thelonious Monk Live Recording from 1963 Latest in Lost Albums to Surface. Glide, September 28, 2018, accessed February 27, 2020 .
- ↑ Thelonious Monk Quartet at Discogs
- ↑ Andreas Müller in conversation with Mathias Mauersberger: A new giant find in jazz? Resurfaced footage of Thelonious Monk. Deutschlandfunk , September 24, 2018, accessed on February 27, 2020 .