Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt.1

The Absolutely Brilliant Corners

of Thelonious Sphere Monk's Music
Friday, April 22, 2011

One day back in the 60s, Thelonious Monk was sitting at the ivories and Charlie Mingus was pulling on his coat about how Monk should put in a word down at The Five Spot seeing as how Monk's already legendary gig down there was coming to an end. And Mingus was being Mingus. That is to say all persuasion and cajolery. He ran it down for must have been 20 minutes until he finally capped it off with the comment, "Dig it, Thelonious. You know us black brothers have got to stick together," at which point Monk, laconic to a point and until then hadn't said one word, turned slowly with a sideways glance, raised one eyebrow and said, "Man, I thought you was Chinese!"

And evenings between sets, Monk would pace outside The Five Spot, head cocked to some inner set of eighty-eight's. And with that listing gait of his, that wispy black goatee and the rumpled herringbone tweed hat that he sported in those days, he'd pace that corner solitary and quixotic, lost in a rapture of exploding chords all jagged, angular, and oddly phrased.

Well one night, a Checkered Cab pulled up as he was so engaged, and Monk who just happened to be passing by at that very moment, swung open the door and then stepped so quietly and self-effacingly behind it that you would've thought it was his calling. But his ear was cocked to that imaginary piano. An elegant patrician couple --- blond Westchester money out nightclubbing --- stepped out of the cab and onto 8th Street just like it was an ad for Chevis Regal. And as the primped fox sashayed past in her saffron strapless, she tossed back her hair, and her escort nodded ever so vaguely, not so much as even looking up at that solicitous, albeit all together funky looking doorman with the goofy hat --- a gesture almost too indifferent to be haughty --- and with that, they hurried past and disappeared into The Five Spot, having come to hear the legendary, Thelonious Monk, that droll and idiosyncratic piano.

Whitney Baillett once said that "listening to Monk's music was like the sensation of missing the bottom step in the dark." My ex-girlfriend said as we listened to Monk on the night he passed away, "It's eerie, isn't it? To hear him play although he's dead?," and she lowered the dustcover on the turntable just as quietly as Monk had shut the door of that Checkered Cab, and then turning without a sign or a gesture went off bopping down the street, head still cocked to one side and circled by the halo of that rumpled hat --- oblivious, preoccupied --- lost in the sweet jazz of the night.

Monk on 8th Street at the end of summer in the early 60's. Must have been around 11:55. © 2011

 
Bemsha Swing

You've probably read of my affinity for the music of Thelonious Monk in numerous posts past. His recordings remain among the most cherished (and played!) in my music collection, and I speak of him reverently whenever taking stock of the things in life that matter most to me. Naturally, there are other individuals whom I admire as well, but few that I regard in quite the same way as T. A virtual cornerstone of modern jazz, Monk's eccentric and highly personal style traversed not only the way in which he carried himself, but also the way in which he composed and approached his instrument. With a penchant for hat wear of all kinds, his sometimes startling appearance was nearly as colorful as his piano technique. Highly angular, percussive and discordant, Monk's playing may at times sound somewhat crude or perhaps even primitive to the casual ear, but it's actually quite the opposite. The harmonies he utilized were often radical, placed over dissonant chords voicings and complex rhythms incorporating frequent shifts in dynamics. Additionally there were also his well known 'misplaced' accents, and don't for a minute be fooled by the silences. His solos are punctuated by frequent pauses, but Monk was never hesitant due to uncertainty or misgivings over what he'd just done. He was busy constructing new chords in his mind's eye, visualizing how to bend the notes on the ivory keyboard to create the sound he was striving to achieve; blue notes as they're called, and Thelonious Monk was the supreme master. Many sounded flat, or often just plain wrong, but it often takes a bit of time to fully comprehend the thrust of his playing, and Monk's was the very essence of modern jazz.

That essence applies to his compositions as well. While not a prolific writer, Thelonious Monk's songbook of roughly 70 compositions are remarkably the second most covered in the jazz canon, second only to Duke Ellington who by comparison wrote hundreds. It's a great testament to the power and sturdiness of his song craft. But what makes it even more extraordinary is the inherently oblique nature of his tunes. While Ellington is revered for his elegance and sophistication, Monk's on the other hand are jagged and askew --- an almost splintered sound --- although he too was capable of penning some achingly beautiful and haunting melodies. T's compositions can be quite deceptive, often beginning in one key and ending in another. And while outwardly they may sound simple to the untrained ear, they're in fact extremely complex, often foregoing the customary 'changes' that most musicians use as a foundation for improvising, frequently making it difficult for the accompanying musicians to find their bearings or secure footing. Much like Whitney Balliet's comment, the masterful John Coltrane once said that playing with Monk was like "stepping into an empty elevator shaft." While the tunes may appear orthodox, they are anything but. Trying to play them is something akin to working without a road map, or at least a road map that makes sense in the prevailing sense. Hence the reason why his songs are then so attractive to creative musicians. Their hidden complexities make for challenging exploration, and once those intricacies are understood, they become a lot of fun to play as well. For us, the little criminals who are merely listening, the joy is still there, but we are additionally rewarded with a stimulating aural experience.

About The Music

While I've always wanted to feature Monk's music within these pages, I was never entirely certain just where to begin. Recently however I had an epiphany. Back in 1984, producer Hal Willner assembled an outstanding and diverse cross-section of musicians from every field of music to contribute interpretations of Monk's material in a compilation called, 'That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute To Thelonious Monk.' It was an enjoyable and wholly accessible approach to the high priest's music, allowing newcomers to discover the beauty, mystery, and complexity of Monk's compositions in a variety of genres that are not necessarily associated with jazz. Using this then as a springboard, I've decided to feature that collection alongside what I consider to be the definitive* performances of the same songs by Monk himself so that one can first hear approachable versions by the likes of NRBQ, Dr. John, David Was, Chris Spedding & Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren, Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn before digesting the original, more challenging Thelonious Monk recordings that served to inspired this terrific anthology. Since 'That's The Way I Feel Now' in it's LP configuration was a two record set, I plan to feature Sides One & Two together with the corresponding Monk originals this week, then do the same with Sides Three & Four next week. 
*However I was undecided over which of two versions of 'Ask Me Now' to feature (both are exquisite in their own ways) so I included them both. The first and principle rendition used in the set is a tender reading for unaccompanied piano (taken from 'Solo Monk'), while the second 'alternate' version is the moving arrangement for small ensemble that appears on 'Five By Monk By Five.' Consider the latter a bonus track strictly for the purpose of comparison. Or not.

It's abstract but absorbing music, and it takes time to fully sink in. If you're already familiar with the sound of Thelonious Monk, then this should be a comfortable yet rewarding exercise. If you're not, I offer my belief that you're astute enough to assimilate all of this material by next week at this same time for Part 2. And you thought you'd never have homework to do ever again, didn't you?

That's The Way I Feel Now, Vols. 1&2

1) Thelonious/The Fowler Brothers
2) Little Rootie Tootie/NRBQ w/The Whole Wheat Horns
3) Reflections/Steve Kahn & Donald Fagen
4) Blue Monk/Dr. John
5) Misterioso/The Carla Bley Band w/Johnny Griffin
6) Pannonica/Barry Harris
7) Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are/Was (Not Was)
8) Brilliant Corners/Mark Bingham, Brenden Harkein & John Scofield
9) Ask Me Now/Steve Lacy & Charlie Rouse
10) Monk's Mood/The Sharon Freeman Ensemble

Monk's Mood, Vol.1

1) Thelonious *

1) Little Rootie Tootie *

3) Reflections (a.k.a. Portrait of an Eremite) ***
4) Blue Monk ****
5) Misterioso *****
6) Pannonica ***
7) Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are (a.k.a. Bolivar Blues) ✝
8) Brilliant Corners ✝✝
9) Ask Me Now ✝✝✝
9.5 Ask Me Now (Optional 'Alternate' Take #
10) Monk's Mood (a.k.a. That's The Way I Feel Now) ✝✝✝✝









Source material for 'Monk's Mood, Vol.1' comes from the following:
*Underground (1967)
**Thelonious Monk Trio (1952)
***Thelonious Alone In San Francisco (1959)
 ****Thelonious Monk At The Five Spot (1958)
*****Sonny Rollins, Vol.2 w/Thelonious Monk (1957)
✝Monk's Dream (1962)
✝✝Brilliant Corners (1956)
✝✝✝Solo Monk (1964)/#Five By Monk By Five (1959)
✝✝✝✝Thelonious Monk Orchestra Live At Town Hall (1959)