Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington
| Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington | ||||
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| Studio album by Thelonious Monk | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Riverside Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
36:55 |
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Studio (s) |
Hackensack, New Jersey |
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Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington is an album by Thelonious Monk . The recordings, which were made on July 21 and 27, 1955 in Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, were released on Riverside Records in February 1956 as a long-playing record and in 1996 as a compact disc, expanded by three titles.
background
Monk's Ellington album was the first recording for the Riverside label. Producers Keepnews and Bill Grauer thought that Monk's first LPs would reach a wider audience if he didn't present his own music on them, so they suggested that he record an all- Duke Ellington album. When Riverside reissued the album in 1958, the title was changed from Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington to Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington and the cover was replaced by Henri Rousseau's painting Repast of the Lion ( ca.1907 ).
“ Solitude ” is Monk's unaccompanied piano solo.
Track list
- Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington (Riverside Records - RLP 12-201)
A1 It Don't Mean a Thing If It Aint Got That Swing (Ellington, Mills ) 4:30
A2 Sophisticated Lady (Ellington) 4:16
A3 I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good (Ellington, Ben Webster ) 5: 40
A4 Black and Tan Fantasy ( Rubber Miley , Ellington) 3:14
B1 Mood Indigo ( Barney Bigard , Ellington, Mills) 3:03
B2 I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart (Ellington, Henry Nemo , Mills, John Redmond ) 5:27
B3 Solitude (Ellington, Eddie DeLange , Mills) 3: 33
B4 Caravan (Ellington, Mills, Juan Tizol ) 5:42
reception
Lindsay Planer said in Allmusic , "The delicacy and inherently complicated melodies for which Duke Ellington is best known fit perfectly with Monk's angular and progressive interpretations."
Sean Murphy wrote in Pop Matters (2007) that it was an outstanding album for the Monk newcomer and that it tends to be an overlooked gem in the Monk discography, since it was between his earlier recordings on Genius of Modern Music and the mid-1950s to the mid-1950s 1960s work was when he made his most consistent albums. On the surface, Ellington and Monk couldn't be more different; in terms of personality, style, and what might be termed "universal appeal". Understanding that the things Monk did on his own terms now attract comparisons to Ellington - at least in terms of influence and signature tunes, which are routinely listed as standards - speaks volumes.
According to Thomas Fitterling, the choice of topics was limited “to popular Ellington songs with a conventional structure. Monk approaches them more thematically than exploring harmony. ”Monk gives Pettiford, the bass pioneer and temporary member of the Ellington Orchestra , plenty of scope for solos; but even these adhered very closely to the template. Clarke's role is based entirely on reserved broom work .
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Robin Kelley, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original , New York: Free Press 2009, p. 190
- ↑ Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington at Discogs
- ^ Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington. pop Matters, October 4, 2007, accessed February 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Thomas Fitterling: Thelonious Monk. His life, his music, his records. Oreos, Waakirchen 1987, ISBN 3-923657-14-5 .