Thelonious Monk Quartet - "Two Hours with Thelonious"

Riverside 460/461 / Riverside/ABC RS-3020

Liner Notes by Nat Hentoff

Epistrophy (opening theme); I Mean You; Jackie-ing; Off Minor; April in Paris (solo); Rhythm-a-ning; I'm getting sentimental Over You; Just a Gigolo (solo); Hackensack; Well, You Needn't; (April 18, 1961 - Paris) Body & Soul (solo); Milan intro and Jackie-ing; Straight, No Chaser; Bemsha Swing; San Francisco Holiday; Rhythm-a-ning; Crepuscule With Nellie; Epistrophy (closing theme); (April 21, 1961 - Milan)

Thelonious Monk - piano. Charlie Rouse - tenor. John Ore - bass. Frankie Dunlop - drums.

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Of all Thelonious Monk's recordings, this is a particularly joyful set. It was the spring of 1961; it was Monk's first trip to Europe. And audiences there, hearing him in person for the first time, felt full-force what Andre Hodeir has called "the urgent beauty" of Monk's music. They also experienced the formidable, utterly intact independence that the very physical presence of Monk projects.

The two sites represented here are Milan and Paris. The Milan performances are Side 3, bands 1 through 3; Side 4, bands 2 through 5; and Side 1, band 4. The rest is Paris. Monk's colleagues were tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist John Ore, and Frankie Dunlop on drums.

There is a special thrust of discovery in Monk's performances in these concerts. His work always contains the self-discovery which makes every new performance of a song by Monk a surprise, no matter how often you've heard him play before. On this trip, moreover, there was the additional stimulation of new sights, sounds, attitudes. And Monk was also discovering how wide-ranging his audience was. For all his seeming aloofness in public -- part of which is shyness -- Monk is deeply concerned with sharing the ceaselessly renewing pleasures of music. And the quality of response at these concerts spurred him to challenge himself even more.

Among the basic characteristics of Monk's proudly distinctive style as composer-player are his dramatic sense of dissonance, his wit, his exhilaratingly resourceful use of space, and that beat. Paul Bacon once wrote that "Monk has a beat like the ocean waves." There is also his mastery of form. As John Coltrane put it, "Everything fits so well in Monk's work, once you get to see the inside." In addition, there is Monk's knowledge and love of the jazz tradition. The roots of his music -- singular as that music is -- go deep. He is all jazz; and having thoroughly absorbed and transmuted his influences, he is all Monk.

That's the quality which comes most directly to my mind when I hear his music -- the totality of it, the completeness of each piece, each performance. And as you'll hear throughout these sides, integral to that sense of completeness is the sound of Monk. Pianist Dick Katz has recalled: "He taught me one of his compositions note for note. I learned and played it but couldn't make it sound the way it was supposed to. The sound of the entire piece is important in his work, not just the melodies alone. Of how many jazz composers besides Duke Ellington can this be said?"

A few, but very few. And that's why Monk's recordings retain such strength. Every element is in place, for Monk improvises as well as writes with an extraordinary unity of conception. I've returned often to these European concerts since they were first released, for their powers are regenerative. And I'm glad this important part of the Monk canon is being made available again, for it is essential to the Monk discography, and therefore essential to the jazz discography. As someone used to introduce him, he is "the onliest Monk" -- a true, durable original."

© Nat Hentoff