Jump to content

"Blue Monk" 50th anniversary


Guy Berger

Recommended Posts

Recently, I listened again to the London sessions and the first five or six Riverside sessions. Why did so many people dislike him? The improvisations are very logical, and you can see that there's a superb musical mind at work. And there's a lot of technique - many runs would be quite difficult to execute if written out and stuck in front of a pianist.

I recently watched a TV show in which a poncy talking head was grumbling about some of Monk's chord voicings and saying that it would have been hard for a horn player to improvise with that behind him. Rubbish! Man, I would have loved to play with Thelonious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They just look at the surface - there it sounds odd. At least not like you are taught in music school. You have to dig inside the music to love Monk - but then it is eternally rewarding.

Blue Monk sounds easy - just a blues tune. But to have it really say something ....

I love Monk's first recording on Prestige, the live version with Griffin on Riverside, and Abbey Lincoln's. Most people play it too fast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...