Notes by Terry Adams
Thelonious Monk - "Always Know"
Columbia (2 LP's) JG 35720 / CD 469185-2
Monk's Dream (5'15); Coming on the Hudson (7'33); Criss-Cross
(8'08); Played Twice (7'33); Light Blue (12'51); Bye-Ya (11'00); Epistrophy
(5'05); Shuffle Boil (5'26); Honeysuckle Rose (10'00); Introspection (2'15);
Darn That Dream (3'39); This Is My Story, This Is My Song (Blessed
Assurance)(1'40); Easy Street (7'49);
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Village Vanguard was packed with people waiting to hear
Thelonious Monk. By the time I got there, the only seats left were the chairs
lined up against the wall on stage. That night, the tenor saxophonist in the
Quartet was Pat Patrick, a friend of mine from Sun Ra's Arkestra. He was
sitting next to me with horn in hand waiting for the leader.
After about ten minutes, we saw Thelonious across the room,
wasting no time heading for the stage. As he was passing us to hang up his
coat, Pat gave him the familiar greeting, "Hey, what's happenin'?"
"Everything is happening all the time" Monk said,
continuing his forward motion toward the closet behind the drums. Then, turning
around with raised index finger, he added "every googleplexth of a
second!"
Everything is happening all the time in Monk's music. Whether
he is soloing or accompanying or laying out, you know he's there. The period of
music recorded here (1962-1968) is Monk at his happiest. Charlie Rouse had the
perfect tone for the unison melodies. Thelonious' piano got better and better
over the years and just bursts out with passion and excitement.
The Quartet has a beat as strong as the best rock'n'roll. This
is especially obvious when Butch Warren and Frankie Dunlop are in a good mood,
as they are here. Monk knows the beat is all important. When I told him that he
never failed to have my feet tappin' he lit a cigarette and said, "that's
a hell of a compliment."
I actually got paid to go through these tapes to select these
13 songs! But the biggest reward was the first listen to "This is my
Story, This is My Song." The name I remember for this hymn was
"Blessed Assurance" and it contained Monk's title as part of its
lyrics. Maybe he played it as a teenager when he worked with a traveling
evangelist. I get more religion from one listen to this track than from a dozen
Sunday morning sermons.
Just the thought of a live "Criss Cross" at Newport
has kept me worked up since I read the original review of that night in down
beat. This is what they opened the set with, which explains why the engineers
didn't have their microphones in the right spot yet. (Guest engineer Tom Mark
worked miracles, helping me with the preparation of the sound of this tape for
its inclusion here.) Two songs later, a beautiful recording was made of Pee Wee
Russell sitting in with the Quartet, (Miles And Monk at Newport). The new six
bar bridge that appeared that year sounds natural and perfectly logical, of
course.
"Light Blue" and "Bye-Ya" have long been
overdue to be released. Monk's big band sounded like no one else's. Hall
Overton really knew what Monk's sound was all about. I love the collaboration
of Monk and Overton and will always wish there could have been more. This is my
favorite version of "Light Blue." The opening song of the concert,
"Bye-Ya," gets better with every chorus. Phil Woods is always singing
when he solos and Thad Jones is a great choice for Monk's trumpet player.
I prescribe "Coming On The Hudson" as therapy for
anybody for any reason. It's definitely in the Monk top-ten along with
"Criss Cross" and "Gallop's Gallop". He wrote this song
while watching the boats from a window of the home of Pannonica de
Koenigswarter.
"Introspection" seemed to have an ability to hide
from record releases. The only version that got out before was the original on
Blue Note, and it was years between its actual recording date and its release.
It's a great tune and will keep its mystery no matter how many times you play
it.
The alternate takes presented here of "Monk's Dream"
and "Shuffle Boil" are special fun for fans who know the original
version forwards and backwards. This "Shuffle Boil" was recorded a
couple of months earlier than the original and is slightly out of control. Monk
fills in vocally where the bass misses at the end. In all fairness to Butch
Warren and "Shuffle Boil" and yourself, check out the excellent
version on It's Monk's Time.
"Played Twice" and "Easy Street" were both
edited for the original releases in order to make room for more songs on the
discs. "Played Twice" was recorded during the Quartet set the night
of the Big Band at Lincoln Center. Monk had planned to play and record it
earlier that year at Newport, but there wasn't enough time to include it in the
set. I'm glad he remembered it for this concert. "Easy Street" was
part of a great trio session in 1968. In this unedited version, Larry Gales
steps out with a beautiful bowed bass solo.
The beginning of "Honeysuckle Rose" never made it to
tape, but what's there paints a great picture of a late night, last song at the
Jazz Workshop.
It doesn't matter whether it takes time to let Thelonious'
music reach you or whether it hits you instantly. What counts is that once it
enters your soul you will always know, its message. And to me, among other
things, its LOVE. It's there - every googleplexth of a beat.
Terry Adams.
- pianist with NRBQ
(New Rhythm and Blues Quartet)