Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia
| Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live album by Thelonious Monk | ||||
|
Publication |
||||
| Label (s) | Thelonious Records , Hyena Records | |||
|
Format (s) |
CD & DVD |
|||
|
Title (number) |
10 |
|||
| occupation |
|
|||
|
Studio (s) |
Olympia, Paris |
|||
|
||||
Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia is a posthumous album by Thelonious Monk . It contains the recordings that were made in the Paris Olympia as a recording by the station Europe 1 on March 7, 1965. The album is supplemented by a DVD with three titles recorded at a concert by the Monk Quartet in Oslo on April 15, 1966. The recordings were released in 2003 on Thelonious Records.
background
Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia , recorded on March 7, 1965, is a Thelonious Records release. From Monk's son, drummer TS Monk , Dr. Peter Grain and Joel Dorn founded by Hyena Records, the label made its debut with TS Monk's album Higher Ground (2003). In addition to Monk Juniors own recordings, the label is a platform for the publication of recordings from his father's private archive, such as the production The Transformer .
The album features a recording of Monk's performance in Paris with his quartet Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums. The quartet plays three titles on the DVD, "Lulu's Back in Town", "Blue Monk" and "Round Midnight".
Music of the album
Monk was never known for convention, wrote John MacNeil, so it's not surprising that the opening track “Rhythm-A-Ning” is one such offering “with bassist Larry Gales and tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse setting the melody. Although Monk sets the tone with his piano work, it is his supporting cast that bears the bulk of this track. ”Monk steers the song into a different, more complicated bebop pattern. " Body & Soul " follows and "begins as a classic, smoky jazz-cabaret affair". “I Mean You” begins with Rouse and Gales “leading the way, while Riley kept his cymbals and drums in check from the start. There's not as much hectic quality here as there is in the opening song, but there's a lot more of a natural swing. ”“ April in Paris, ”an appropriate melody given the time and location of the concert, according to the author,“ leaves Monk in the first Minute, sounds like he's trying something but can't quite figure out what it is. Even so, there is a certain saloon piano playing style embedded in the melody. There isn't much here, this seems like a prelude to “Well You Needn't”. Some of the crowd recognize the song and applaud approvingly. Monk and Rouse find themselves in this song and often 'weave' their instruments around their band members. Gales and Riley figuratively step into the background of the duo, but still assert themselves in this moody and melodic melody. Monk gradually becomes the tuning point as he hums along to his game, then it is Gales' turn to shine. ”The following“ Bright Mississippi ”seems to have a more structured opening; "Epistrophy" has a certain salsa tempo in the opening notes before reverting to a jazz arrangement. There is also a tension in this song, MacNeil wrote, "something that is not so obvious in previous numbers."
Editor's note
The present album doukentiert the second evening of Monk's concerts at the Paris Olympia on March 6th and 7th, 1965. Excerpts from the two concerts previously appeared on the album En Concert avec Europe 1 (Trema 710377/378). The first issue of Trema cited the incorrect date of May 23, 1965. The original CD title was Thelonious Monk and His Quartet . The following output contains the correct recording dates and the title listed here. All titles except “Sweet and lovely” also appeared on Landscape LSD2-903 (2 CD set) with the title Monk live in Europe 1965 and on Malaco Jazz Classics (MJD1200) with the title Paris Jazz Concert, Vol .
Track list
- Thelonious Monk: Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia (Thelonious Records - TMF 9316)
- CD
- Rhythm-A-Ning 10:31
- Body & Soul 2:46
- I mean you 10:52
- April in Paris 1:23
- Well You Needn't 12:20
- Bright Mississippi 9:05 am
- Epistrophy 5:08
- DVD
- Lulu's Back in Town
- Blue Monk
- 'Round Midnight
reception
Richard Cook and Brian Morton , who gave the album the highest rating, praised the editorial work of TS Monk and said that Monk was in glowing shape on the evening of March 7th. Thom Jurek gave the album 4½ (out of five) stars in Allmusic and wrote, “'Well You Needn't' shows the full and almost telepathic strength of the quartet. This piece, a complete blowout of complicated improvisation and rhythmic shifts and subtleties, is one of the greatest live recorded performances of this band of all time. The show ends with 'Bright Mississippi' and a moving rendition of 'Epistrophy' that leaves the audience in a kind of awe of the joyful, brilliant, and bright offering this band presented to a European audience nearly 40 years ago. If this recording is proof, Monk's catalog will be expanded with some real jewels. ”
Germein Linares praises in All About Jazz that the recording is excellent, as is usual for this group. “Although the band performs with the usual inventory of Monk compositions, there is an undeniable excitement that drives these otherwise familiar tunes to new avenues of excitement. In part driven by the extremely eager Parisian crowd, the men take advantage of the unbridled live environment to bring out their individual skills, particularly Charlie Rouse and Ben Riley. The real tidbits, however, are the constant exchange and dynamic interplay between the band members on pieces like 'Rhythm-A-Ning', 'Well You Needn't', 'Bright Mississippi' and 'Epistrophy'. In contrast to the quartet are the two delightful solo pieces by Monk, 'Body and Soul' and 'April in Paris' ”, says the author. Although each is short, the pieces often revealed neglected aspects of Monk's playing as he carries these classic melodies with careful, delicate precision.
Jason MacNeil wrote in Pop Matters, "And while some see this as an obvious attempt to make money on Monk's vast array of great music, it couldn't be further from the truth if The Music Offered is the Measuring Stick." that Monk had in these players, the author continued, "is only surpassed by the confidence he had in his music, which was resourceful and very impressive for the time and to this day."
In his renaissance for JazzTimes, Duck Baker went into more detail on the DVD with the snippets from the Oslo concert; “The quartet plays three pieces, including fine interpretations of 'Lulu's Back in Town' and 'Blue Monk' as well as a somewhat superficial 'Round Midnight'. Rouse and Monk are in good shape and the rhythm team reaches its usual high standards, although some find Gales' bass solo more than long enough. However, listeners who love confident, deep walking play don't have this problem. ”In the author's opinion, the CD is much better; Most of the program is devoted to the repertoire of Monk's original compositions, which by 1965 had become more than well known, although the solo version of "Body and Soul" is remarkable. The quartet certainly sounds inspired on this occasion. The band leader shows how well he has adopted the swing approach of building solos from riffs , and Charlie Rouse is in good shape here. Ben Riley was a wonderful drummer for Monk; He also loved swinging hard and his solos reflect the older style but with some solid new additions.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Thelonious Monk: Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia. All About Jazz, March 11, 2004, accessed February 29, 2020 .
- ^ A b Jason MacNeil: Thelonious Monk: Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia. Pop Matters, November 5, 2003, accessed March 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed February 19, 2020)
- ^ Thelonious Monk: Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia at Discogs
- ↑ Quotation Cook & Morton, Penguin Guide to Jazz Edition 2006, p. 929 f.
- ^ Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ Duck Baker: Thelonious Monk: Monk in Paris: Live at the Olympia. JazzTimes, January 1, 2004, accessed March 1, 2020 .