Fellow TP members and jazz fiends,.. Thelonious Monk has always been a real favorite with me. I think that the release of the Monk/Coltrane @ Carnagie Hall recording has sparked renewed interest in his music as well. Can you imagine stumbling across that recording at the Library of Congress! Thank god the music archives are currently in the process of being transfered to digital or we might have had to wait a whole lot longer to hear it. There really should be someone there to look over the 12 million items in the performing arts section more often. I mean, what are we paying those guys for anyway. And, although I shudder the thought of transferring all those wonderful formats to digital, it's better than losing them forever.
So, my favorite Monk albums have always been " Brilliant Corners" and "Monks Music". Both were recorded on the Riverside label so they're fair game for the Tape Project. "Corners" is all about Monk to me. Imposable rhythms and inventive, rebellious compositions are the order of the day. Rollins is in top form, as is Roach and Pettiford, but bar to bar, there's no mistaking that this is Thelonious Monk. Monk's Music on the other hand, star studded and not adverse to the occasional blowing session, gives a little more of the spotlight to the players. Lucky for us too, being the only recording date for Coltrane with Hawkins. The addition of Gigi Gryce and Art Blakey made this recording something of a dream come true and a real tribute to Orin Keepnews for making great things happen.
So which one? Seeing that jazz is really a melding of composition and performance, of contemplation and action, the gray area between the two is almost invisible. Personally, I have more "Brilliant Corners" days than "Monks Music".
