Favorite Monk tune?

[Don Brown]

Brilliant Corners. Especially the original recording on Riverside where it sounds as though Sonny Rollins has managed to blow his tenor inside out.

[Chuck Nessa]

This thread indicates the difficulty of separating composition from performance in jazz.

My first choice would probably be "Crepuscule" but that might be because of orchestration and performance.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Chuck Nessa

[Jazz Kat]

Chose In Walked Bud. But then I realized it's actually Bye Ya.

[Shawn]

Chose In Walked Bud. But then I realized it's actually Bye Ya.

Actually....it's "BLUE SKIES" by Irving Berlin...

[clifford_thornton]

I can't choose! And if I could, I might have chosen an "other"!

I'm in love with Monk's music.

Same here.

I like "Brilliant Corners," of course, as well as "Locomotive" and "Jackie-ing" a lot.

But there are so many... same with Herbie Nichols.

[ep1str0phy]

Wow--I didn't think I'd hear someone else say "Locomotive". As Chuck noted, a lot of it is a performance/composition thing, and I have an affection for the whole of Underground, anyway. I'll also list "Well You Needn't", "Monk's Mood"... you keep going long enough you list everything.

[sidewinder]

It would have to be 'Monk's Mood'. Wonderfull tune.

[Hank]

Impossible to pick only one. Today it's "Pannonica."

[7/4]

This week it's Monk's Mood.

.

[Shrdlu]

I'm going to bend the rules a little, and say "favorite Monk performance of one of his tunes".

Straight No Chaser, from the 1959 Riverside album "Five By Monk By Five". The piano accompaniment for the horns is absolutely amazing, and has stuck vividly in my mind ever since I first heard it (on LP) - generations ago, lol. When I play this, Monk always draws my attention away from the horn solos (which are not exactly shabby, being by Charlie Rouse and Thad Jones).

But, of course, he wrote so many wonderful tunes and made so many fantastic recordings.

[i just read the thread about people who saw Trane live. Well I got to see Monk live. It was in 1971 on that "Giants of Jazz" tour. Art Blakey was right, it was a bad idea, though I'm glad I got to see all those great players. At least the tour led to those superb trio recordings in London, which, sadly, turned out to be Monk's last.

Monk was mentally a mess on that tour. He played purely by reflex, and when I saw him backstage, he seemed to have lost all motor control. His eyes were rolling around in a weird way, poor guy. Diz was looking after him and getting ice cream for him.]

[BillF]

[i just read the thread about people who saw Trane live. Well I got to see Monk live. It was in 1971 on that "Giants of Jazz" tour. Art Blakey was right, it was a bad idea, though I'm glad I got to see all those great players. At least the tour led to those superb trio recordings in London, which, sadly, turned out to be Monk's last.

Monk was mentally a mess on that tour. He played purely by reflex, and when I saw him backstage, he seemed to have lost all motor control. His eyes were rolling around in a weird way, poor guy. Diz was looking after him and getting ice cream for him.]

I was also saw the "Giants of Jazz" - at the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road, London. I had previously seen Monk in April 1961 at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester when his quartet were in a double bill with the Jazz Messengers.

[AllenLowe]

well, the true measure of hipness here would be to come up with a Monk song nobody else ever heard of - since there is no such thing I will become the hippest person ever by saying Just You Just Me from the standards album - Monk plays a cool little riff to the chords, in unison with Pettiford, as I recall -

damn, I'm so cool it should be illegal in 14 states - along with sodomy, sex with car accident victims*, and dancing with a mailman-

*Lenny Bruce reference; damn that's hip

Edited April 24, 2008 by AllenLowe

[BillF]

well, the true measure of hipness here would be to come up with a Monk song nobody else ever heard of - since there is no such thing I will become the hippest person ever by saying Just You Just Me from the standards album - Monk plays a cool little riff to the chords, in unison with Pettiford, as I recall -

damn, I'm so cool it should be illegal in 14 states - along with sodomy, sex with car accident victims*, and dancing with a mailman-

*Lenny Bruce reference; damn that's hip

Of course, Monk's "Evidence" is based on the chords of "Just You Just Me" ....

[AllenLowe]

ahh, you just topped me - I give up my crown -

allright kids, answer the BIG question - what chord changes is "Parisian Thoroughfare" based on?

[BillF]

ahh, you just topped me - I give up my crown -

allright kids, answer the BIG question - what chord changes is "Parisian Thoroughfare" based on?

Ummm .... But isn't this a Monk thread?

P.S. "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"?

[Michael Weiss]

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Sorry to be a spoiler.

[BillF]

[AllenLowe]

good job, no fair, you're a pianist - funny thing is I knew both those tunes for years before Dick Katz pointed that out to me - they're so different -

and anyway, Bud Powell wrote Parisian Thoroughfare and he was tight with Monk, so it works out ok -

[Michael Weiss]

MartyJazz probably has the best ears of any non-musician I know. I remember him being able to identify several tunes without ever hearing the melody. Even Bird tunes.

[king ubu]

Quite astonishing, but besides Misterioso, Ruby and 'Round Midnight, two of my very favourites have only been mentioned once in this thread (twice if you include mikeweil's list): Reflections and Criss Cross.

Bright Mississippi is another fun one.

And for standards, I think it would have to be Lulu for me - and how about that weird "There's Danger In Your Eyes, Cherie", from "Alone in San Francisco"?!