Piano Solo (1954)
| Piano Solo (1954) | ||||
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| Studio album by Thelonious Monk | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Swing , Disques Vogue , Columbia Records | |||
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LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
8/11/16 |
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Studio (s) |
Paris |
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Piano Solo is a 10-inch LP by Thelonious Monk . The recordings were made during the pianist's stay on June 7, 1954 in Paris for the Swing label and were published under the title Piano Solo . In an expanded form they appeared in 1962 under the title The Prophet on Disques Vogue . Once again supplemented by a trio session with French musicians, the recordings were released under the title Solo 1954 on March 15, 1993 on Columbia Records as a compact disc .
background
At the end of 1953, the jazz musician Henri Renaud came to New York City , where he made contact with Monk. He expressed his interest in the European jazz scene; Renaud then phoned Charles Delaunay and brought the pianist to the Paris Salon du jazz in 1954 . There Monk had the opportunity to play with European jazz musicians who, however, struggled with his music, according to Monk biographer Thomas Fitterling. The Monk concert was not a great success, but it was recognized by the French jazz press with a cover picture and text. So it happened that the opportunity arose for Monk's solo session on June 7, 1954 in Paris for the Swing label. “One of the most beautiful mon solo recordings was made in a relaxed atmosphere,” says Fitterling.
In the summer of 1954 there were no suitable accompanists for Thelonious Monk in France, speculates Thomas Fitterling about the swing label's decision to record the pianist solo. In this way, Monk had the opportunity on his first solo album to “interpret pieces of his own choice with himself and the piano in a relaxed atmosphere.” It was remarkable, the author continued, that he was using material that he had already earned for prestige and Blue Note Records .
Over the years, these nine performances have been republished in various editions, for example under the title Portrait of an Ermite (Jazz Legacy / Vogue). The selection includes the Monk originals “We See”, “Hackensack” and a cover version of “ Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ”. The discographical information on the cover of the original LP was incorrect; “Manganese” is actually “We See”, a track that Monk had recently recorded for Prestige in a quintet line-up with Ray Copeland , Frank Foster , Curly Russell and Art Blakey . Behind “Portrait of an Ermite” is “Reflections”; Thelonious Monk recorded the title in a trio with Gary Mapp (bass) and Max Roach on December 18, 1952 for Prestige. The number labeled "Reflections" should actually be called "Evidence", a title from Monk's quartet session for Blue Note on July 2, 1948 with Milt Jackson , John Simmons and Shadow Wilson .
In the CD edition Piano Solo: The Centennial Edition - Paris 1954 , the solo numbers recorded by Thelonious Monk were supplemented by trio recordings from his stay in Paris. On June 1, 1954, Monk played several tracks with Jean-Marie Ingrand (bass) and Jean-Louis Viale (drums) at a performance in the Salle Pleyel , including an incomplete version of "Round Midnight".
Track list
20 cm LP: Piano Solo (1954)
- Thelonious Monk - Piano Solo (Swing - M. 33.342)
A1 'Round About Midnight
A2 Reflections [= Evidence]
A3 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes ( Jerome David Kern )
A4 Well You Needn't
B1 Portrait of an Ermite [= Reflections]
B2 Manganése [= We See]
B3 Eronel
B4 Off Minor
LP: The Prophet (1962)
- Thelonious Monk - The Prophet (Disques Vogue - LD. 503-30, Series: 10ᵉ Anniversaire Des Disques Vogue - Vol. 11)
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A1 Round About Midnight |
B1 Portrait of an Ermite |
- Additional tracks: Alto saxophone: Danny Quebec (A5), Edmund Gregory (B5), Bass - Robert Paige (B5), Gene Ramey (A5), John Simmons (A6, B6), drums: Art Blakey (A5, B5) , Shadow Wilson (A6, B6), tenor saxophone: Billy Smith (A5), George Taitt (B5), trumpet: Idrees Sulieman (A5), vibraphone: Milt Jackson (A6, B6). The four tracks "Humph", "Mysterioso" [sic], "Round About Midnight" and "Well You Needn't" appeared in 1955 on the EP Sextet dnd Octet on Vogue Records (EPV 1048).
Piano Solo: The Centennial Edition - Paris 1954 (CD Edition 2017)
- Thelonious Monk: Piano Solo: The Centennial Edition - Paris 1954 (Sony Music - 889854723422, Swing - 889854723422, Legacy - 889854723422, Disques Vogue - 889854723422, Jazz Connoisseur - 889854723422)
- Introduction by André Francis 0:52
- Evidence 3:05
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 3:27
- Hackensack 3:04
- 'Round Midnight 5:18
- Eronel 2:34
- Off Minor 2:34
- Well, You Needn't 3:28
- Portrait of an Ermite (Reflections) 5:00
- Manganese (We See) 2:36
- Announcement (Presenter: Jacques Souplet) 1:31
- Well, You Needn't (Live at Salle Pleyel 1954) 6:02
- 'Round Midnight (Live at Salle Pleyel 1954) 5:18
- Off Minor (Live at Salle Pleyel 1954) 5:10
- Hackensack / Epistrophy (Live at Salle Pleyel 1954) 3:32
- 'Round Midnight (Incomplete) (Live at Salle Pleyel 1954) 2:56
Bass - Jean-Marie Ingrand (tracks: 11-16), Drums - Jean-Louis Viale (tracks: 11-15), Drums [presumably] - Gérard "Dave" Pochonet (track: 16)
reception
Lindsay Planer gave the album 4½ (out of five) stars in Allmusic and praised: “There is really no dull moment during the half-hour program that begins with the charm and sophistication of 'Round Midnight . When all excessive (read: 'other') instruments are removed, the true density of Monk's arrangements as well as his equally complex style of performance become more clearly visible. ”The contemplative nature of“ Reflections ”resonates with a special force, which is additional due to the intrusive nature Instruments is masked. If Monk has ever written a melody, Planer sums up, which works most effectively as a piano solo, then it is “Reflections”. And that is a feeling that could actually extend to the entire (and the rest) of Solo 1954 .
In his review of The Complete Black Lion and Vogue Recordings of Thelonious Monk , Lindsay Planer wrote that each of these pieces begins with the edgy exuberance that defines a Thelonious Monk performance. "Reflections" alternate playing with unusual rhythms and Monk's recurring fascination with the stride piano style of James P. Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith . Of all the solo pages that Monk has recorded in the almost 30 years in which he has been actively recording, these are at the zenith of his successes. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" - the only cover melody that was made in this session - also received a unique and extremely Monkish arrangement.
According to Thomas Fitterling, the pieces sound without the brass arrangements (in their form previously recorded for Blue Note or Prestige), “in the omitted, almost crude piano treatment [...] like abstractions of the originals reduced to the most essential logical functions. Some things seem strange and awkward - ”and yet“ the sketchy, due to the beat that always runs through all the tonal pitfalls and which is not slavishly marked by the freely acting left hand, gets a bit relentlessly definitive. ”Above all, the recording of“ 'Round Midnight “get such a fascinatingly brittle beauty.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Thomas Fitterling: Thelonious Monk. His life, his music, his records. Oreos, Waakirchen 1987
- ↑ a b Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Accessed February 1, 2020.
- ↑ Thelonious Monk - Piano Solo at Discogs
- ↑ Thelonious Monk - The Prophet at Discogs
- ↑ Sextet and Octet at Discogs
- ↑ Thelonious Monk: Piano Solo at Discogs
- ^ Review of the Alb "" about The Complete Black Lion and Vogue Recordings of Thelonious Monk at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 1, 2020.