Thelonious Himself

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Thelonious Himself
Studio album by Thelonious Monk

Publication
(s)

1957

Label (s) Riverside Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

8/12

occupation
  • Piano: Thelonious Monk

production

Orrin Keepnews

Studio (s)

Reeves Sound Studio, New York

chronology
Brilliant Corners
(1956) 		Thelonious Himself Monk's Music
(1957)
Template: Info box music album / maintenance / parameter error

Thelonious Himself is an album by Thelonious Monk . The recordings, which were made in Reeves Sound Studio, New York on April 5 and 16, 1957, were released in 1957 as a long-playing record and in an expanded form from 1996 as a compact disc on Riverside Records .

background

When producer Orrin Keepnews recorded this album for Riverside in 1957, Thelonious Monk had recorded relatively little as a solo pianist - nine songs on piano solo for the French label Disques Vogue in 1954 and individual pieces on Prestige and Riverside LPs. Thelonious Monk had contributed a solo number to each of his first three recording sessions for Riverside - Plays the Music of Duke Ellington , The Unique Thelonious Monk, and Brilliant Corners - and for many listeners these were the highlights of every concert. Eqh34 it was decided that Monk's fourth Riverside record, Thelonious Himself , should consist almost entirely of solo interpretations; in addition, the trio number "Monk's Mood" was recorded, with John Coltrane (tenor saxophone) and Wilbur Ware (double bass).

The 1991 CD edition contained the additional sample title 'Round Midnight (In Progress) (25:22). Later editions instead added three alternative takes of "I Should Care", "(I Don't Stand) a Ghost of a Chance (With You)" and "Functional" to the original LP. In the liner notes , Orrin Keepnews stated that the inclusion of the original "Round Midnight" outtake "would have required the elimination of virtually all existing alternative takes on other tracks - five other examples of this pianist's improvisational genius."

Track list

Original LP

  • Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself (Riverside Records - RLP 12-235)

A1 April in Paris ( EY Harburg , Vernon Duke ) 3:54
A2 Ghost of a Chance ( Bing Crosby , Ned Washington , Victor Young ) 4:23
A3 Functional (Monk) 9:20
A4 I'm Getting Sentimental Over You ( George Bassman , Ned Washington) 4:06

B1 I Should Care ( Axel Stordahl , Paul Weston , Sammy Cahn ) 3:16
B2 'Round Midnight (Monk) 6:43
B3 All Alone ( Irving Berlin ) 4:53
B4 Monk's Mood (Monk) 7:53

CD-Edition (Keepnews Collection, from 2008)

  • Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself (Riverside Records - RCD-30510)
  1. April in Paris 3:54
  2. (I Don't Stand) a Ghost of a Chance (With You) (Take 7) 4:24
  3. Functional (Take 2) 9:22
  4. I'm Getting Sentimental over You 4:08
  5. I Should Care (Take 3) 3:15
  6. 'Round Midnight (Take 7) 6:44
  7. All Alone 4:53
  8. Monk's Mood (False Start) 0:58
  9. Monk's Mood 7:53
  10. (I Don't Stand) a Ghost of a Chance (With You) (Take 5) 4:13
  11. Functional (Take 1) 9:44
  12. I Should Care (Take 1) 3:29
  13. I Should Care (Take 2) 3:18

reception

The Allmusic reviewer wrote: “Like a great actor who finds previously dark levels of meaning in a familiar monologue, Monk takes familiar themes like 'April in Paris', 'I Should Care' and 'All Alone' and distills them into one Essence. Where most pianists simply expand the melody (or use the chord changes as a showcase for their own variations), Monk focuses everything on thematic materials. "

Music critic Robert Christgau judged Thelonious Himself to be “probably [Monk's] best” solo album, while Down Beat magazine gave it five stars and described it as “highly recommended”.

In Thomas Fitterling's opinion, the album title was correct in that Monk played as if he were at home alone with the piano. At a leisurely pace, often even rubato , he subjects the standard songs to a benevolent and relaxed exploration. Anyone looking for the relentlessly definitive moment of the French solo recordings of 1954 will be disappointed.

Stuart Broomer noted in All About Jazz : "While Vogue's Piano Solo (1954) record emphasized Monk's originals and the individual tracks were all old pieces, Thelonious Himself balanced his unique approach to standards with impressive original performances." The reviewed production [from 2009] also has an excellent sound, praises the author; it is "now so intense that you can feel the eerie monk atmosphere of reflections, hesitation and randomness in the air".

AB Spellman stated on National Public Radio , “that 'Monk's Mood' is one of those compositions that seems to be in another dimension somewhere [...] It's a little scary. [...] That gives him a lot of humanity here. ”He also pointed out what Monk was playing behind his fellow players, bassist Wilber Ware and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane:“ He's commenting all the time, and he still has his great sense of humor, and this great expressiveness, all rolled into one. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Himself. All About Jazz, January 18, 2009, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Accessed February 1, 2020.
  3. ↑ Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself (CD 1991) at Discogs
  4. ↑ Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself (at Discogs)
  5. ↑ Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself (CD 2008) at Discogs
  6. ^ Robert Christgau: Not So Misterioso. Banres & Noble, December 13, 2009, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Thelonious Himself. In Akustik, February 1, 2020, accessed on January 17, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Thomas Fitterling: Thelonious Monk. His life, his music, his records. Oreos, Waakirchen 1987, ISBN 3-923657-14-5 .
  9. ^ AB Spellman: Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself . National Public Radio, August 1, 2001, accessed February 17, 2001 .