Notes by Orrin Keepnews
(Notes from the LP re-issue.)
It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing; Sophisticated
Lady; I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good; Black And Tan Fantasy; Mood Indigo; I
Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart; Solitude (solo); Caravan;
Thelonious Monk - piano. Oscar Pettiford - bass. Kenny Clarke -
drums.
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This unusual and remarkable album, recorded in 1955, was, at
the time, a first in several ways. It was the first twelve-inch contemporary
jazz LP issued by Riverside - making it a very suitable starting point for what
has become a distinguished list of jazz albums. It was also the first of
several highly significant and widely appreciated LP's recorded for Riverside
by Thelonious Monk. Lastly, it was planned as the start of a campaign that has
long since been won: a campaign to overcome the fears of those who had
previously made the mistake of feeling that Monk was "too difficult"
and "too far out" for them. To bring him to the attention of this
broad audience seemed doubly desirable: it would bring pleasure and rewarding
musical stimulation to many previously self-depriving listeners; and it could
help gain for Monk the broad and deep, credit and acceptance that he deserved
as one of the true creative giants of jazz.
This album, in which Thelonious for the first time offered a
program entirely made up of standard material, appeared at first to leave some
reviewers a bit confused and discomforted - perhaps because they were unable to
adjust their stereotypes of Monk as a "mad genius" to conform with
the reality of his ability to interpret the works of another composer
inventively, lucidly and with respect. Actually, the premise of this LP was
simple enough. It derived from a conviction that a good part of the problem of
the jazz artist who (as was at that time the case with Monk) is considered
excessively "far out" is tied in with the playing of material that is
unfamiliar to the 'average' ear. This is not to deny the vast importance of
original compositions in jazz creativity. But it can be extremely helpful to
know the precise structural and melodic starting point for a musician's
improvisations. Communication between performer and audience is, after all,
rather important; and to perhaps more listeners than might care to admit it out
loud, the initial identification of knowing the tune can turn out to be at
least half the battle.
To give this LP a certain unity of mood, and to insure
worthwhile material for Monk to work with, it was suggested that the standard
compositions he'd stick to be selected from the works of Duke Ellington, himself
a major force for a quarter-century, and certainly a man for whose achievements
most jazz modernists have more than a little respect. Thelonious readily
approved the whole idea. He retired briefly with a small mountain of Ellington
sheet music; in due course he reported himself ready for action; and thus this
LP was born.
Although Monk surely remains his usual unfettered musical self
here, he has not made the mistake of treating Duke's compositions merely as
vehicles. they have too much character and strength for that; they serve in
each case to suggest a logical direction for Monk to travel. Thus, for example,
Black and Tan Fantasy is fittingly treated as a funky blues, Caravan becomes a
weird flight of fancy, and Solitude - played as an unaccompanied piano solo -
is a mood-piece of almost painful poignancy.
Thelonious is aided to no small degree by two exceptionally
gifted associates. Oscar Pettiford is among the finest bass players around
today; he has probably done more than anyone since Jimmy Blanton to create and
shape the modern bass style. Kenny Clarke worked with Monk in the house band at
Minton's during the early-1940's days when bop was first developing; he
deserves to be ranked near Thelonious, Bird and Dizzy among the basic
formulators of modern jazz, and he remains high on anyone's list of top
drummers. These three men begin with the decided advantage of knowing each
other and each other's music so well that fitting together is almost a matter
of instinct. With such support, and with the rich fullness of Ellington's music
to work from, Thelonious is able to display at their best his distinctive and
remarkable attributes: a firm, swinging beat; a spare, yet actually highly
lyrical approach; flashes of sardonic humor; and an unequalled flair for
unexpected but thoroughly logical improvisation.
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"Thelonious Monk plays Duke Ellington" has proved to
be a pioneering album. Its significance has by now been recognized, and over
the next few years several succeeding LPs (offering Monk's treatments both of
standards and his own brilliant originals) met with ever-increasing success and
near-unanimous acclaim. Also, Thelonious' increasing frequent appearances at
concerts, festivals and night clubs helped bring him more firmly to the fore.
By the summer of 1958 (to pick out a specific reference point), Monk was
drawing record-breaking crowds in his second lengthy stay at New York's Five
Spot Cafe, and his resurgence had even gone so far as "the critics" -
he had won out over Erroll Garner as top-rated pianist in the 1958 Down Beat
Critics' Poll.
Such happenings have led us at Riverside to recognize that Monk's
audience - which is a still-widening one - has clearly become many times
broader than it was when this album was first issued. With this new audience in
mind, we have now repackaged these eight classic Monk performances - using as
the cover a reproduction of "The Repast of the Lion," a striking
painting by the French "primitive" modernist Henri Rousseau.
- Orrin Keepnews.