RUBY MY DEAR

[sal]

"Ruby My Dear" is my favorite ballad ever. Every time I hear it, the goosebumps come and the lump in my throat rises. While I have heard countless versions of this beautiful Monk tune, I think most can agree that the two definitive versions are the ones on "Monk's Music" and "Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane". The first time I heard the tune was on Monk's Music, and Hawk just seemed to be born to play it. He played with such power, that after that it was hard for me to listen to piano trio versions of the song. I just couldn't hear that song without imagining Hawk's beautiful phrases over the top. But recently, I picked up the K2 version of Monk and Trane, and I must say, Trane plays the hell out of that song. So beautiful and heartfelt, yet so different from Hawk. So I wonder, which version of this song do you all like more, or is there another that is even better?

[Harold_Z]

I probably should have checked out my vinyl and revisited Johnny Griffin before answering this, but HEY ! We're only chatting here anyway. I haven't listened to any of these for a few years, so I'm going by memory, but I specifically remember pondering this question.

Yeah...they're both great, but for me Hawk has the edge on this one. He's a ballad player supreme and he just kills it. Don't get me wrong - I dig Trane, and I'm glad both versions are here to listen to, but on the so called desert island, if I could only have one version, it would be Hawk.

BTW, Hawk impressed the hell out of me on the Sonny/Hawk RCA thing too. For my money he edged that one out also.

Edited May 1, 2004 by Harold_Z