Thelonious Monk Appreciate

We did trane so let's have some love for Monk. Goddamn genius whose brain worked faster than his fingers.

His solo in this take of "Blue Monk" is stellar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmhP1RgbrrY

"Blues Five Spot" (with Johnny Griffin killing it on tenor) and damn listen to Monk's comping...sublime harmonic understanding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbLZnul8kQA

and just for fun, here's Monk and Trane playing "evidence"

Testify Yo!

ME ALWAYS AND MORE ALWAYS LOVE THE MONK!

One of the greatest of all time, hands down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-_45lXgHZw

Thelonious Monk is heavy shit. It's astonishing how he goes all places with his melodies, without losing that jazz feel and keeping it all funky.

  On 9/6/2010 at 11:10 AM, ericsosh said:

Thelonious Monk is heavy shit. It's astonishing how he goes all places with his melodies, without losing that jazz feel and keeping it all funky.

word. I love brilliant corners!

Monk's fingers were special. Not a lot like him has ever come about.

  On 9/6/2010 at 11:10 AM, ericsosh said:

Thelonious Monk is heavy shit. It's astonishing how he goes all places with his melodies, without losing that jazz feel and keeping it all funky.

It's all the dissonance - he understood how shit was supposed to work. I can't find the take of "nutty" that he recorded with Johnny Griffin on tenor, but it's amazing - slower than usual takes with so much room and space to improvise. Griffin's solo might almost be better than Trane's when Trane did the piece with Monk (trane was still young when he did it...so that might have influenced...). I'll upload it later today...

monk is my favorite to play along with on sax

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9fsRiunOtk

and then they really started something!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubUuLfkjQ3o

kronos quartet did an excellent album of monk music with ron carter on bass...my favorite is their version of misterioso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kgY1Hd5QVk

love the monk

his middle name was Sphere

how amesome is that

  On 9/6/2010 at 11:40 PM, triachus said:

his middle name was Sphere

 

 

how amesome is that

I did not know that! Very awesome to answer your question.

His middle name was Sphere! That is fantastical awesome!

I too had no idea...

he was truly unique. he was so good at writing tunes that were both complex and somehow catchy. he never lost site of the tune when he was improvising. and he could take a standard and make it sound like he wrote it. so awesome.