Interpretations of Monk, vols 1 & 2

[Guy Berger]

Are these available on CD? What do they sound like? I bet the results could get crazy.

"Interpretations of Monk" - Volume 1

KOCH-Jazz - KOC CD-7838

Disc 1 - Muhal Richard Abrams set.

Crepuscule With Nellie (piano solo) - 3'39; I Mean You - 8'25; Ask Me Now - 8'02; Gallop's Gallop (Steve Lacy solo) - 3'41; Blue Monk - 7'32; Four In One - 10'16; (November 1, 1981 - N.Y.)

Muhal Richard Abrams - piano, Don Cherry trumpet, Steve Lacy - soprano, Charlie Rouse - tenor, Roswell Rudd - trombone, Richard Davis - bass, Ben Riley - drums.

Disc 2 - Barry Harris set.

Ruby My Dear (piano solo) - 4'16; Light Blue - 7'24; Eronel - 9'14; Bye-Ya - 8'14; Pannonica - 5'35; Off Minor - 6'46; Epistrophy - 10'33; (November 1, 1981 - N.Y.)

Barry Harris - piano, Don Cherry trumpet, Steve Lacy - soprano, Charlie Rouse - tenor, Roswell Rudd - trombone, Richard Davis - bass, Ed Blackwell - drums.

"Interpretations of Monk" - Volume 2

KOCH-Jazz - KOC CD-7839

Disc 1 - Anthony Davis set.

Monk's Mood; Evidence; Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are; Thelonious; Well, You Needn't; (November 1, 1981 - N.Y.)

Anthony Davis - piano, Don Cherry trumpet, Steve Lacy - soprano, Charlie Rouse - tenor, Roswell Rudd - trombone, Richard Davis - bass, Ben Riley - drums.

Disc 2 - Mal Waldron set.

'Round About Midnight; Let's Call This; Reflections; Friday the 13th; Rhythm-a-ning; Epistrophy; (November 1, 1981 - N.Y.)

Mal Waldron - piano, Don Cherry trumpet, Steve Lacy - soprano, Charlie Rouse - tenor, Roswell Rudd - trombone, Richard Davis - bass, Ed Blackwell - drums.

[Guy Berger]

And what about this one? Todd Rundgren doing "Four in One" w/drum machines? Peter Frampton?

"That's The Way I Feel Now - A Tribute to Thelonious Monk"

A & M SP-6600 (2 LP set) and CS-6600 (cassette)

Side One.

Thelonious, Bruce Fowler & Phil Teele - tmbs, Tom Fowler - bass, Chester Thompson - drums.

Little Rootie Tootie, NRBQ and the Whole Wheat Horns

Reflections, Steve Kahn - guitars & Donald Fagen - synthesizers.

Blue Monk, Dr John - piano

Misterioso, The Carla Bley Band with special guest Johnny Griffin.

Side Two.

Pannonica, Barry Harris - tack piano.

Ba-lue-Bolivar-Ba-lues-are, Was (Not Was)

Brilliant Corners, Mark Bingham, Brenden Harkein & John Scofield - guitars, Steve Swallow - bass, Joey Barron - drums.

Ask Me Now, Steve Lacy - soprano, Charlie Rouse - tenor.

Monk's Mood, Sharon Freeman - french horn.

Side Three.

Four In One, Todd Rundgren - synthesizers, keyboards, guitar & drum machines, & Gary Windo - alto.

Functional, Randy Weston.

Evidence, Steve Lacy - soprano, and Elvin Jones - drums.

Shuffle Boil, John Zorn - game calls, alto and clarinets, Arti Lindsay - guitar & vocal, Wayne Horvitz - piano, organ, celeste & electronics, M E Miller - drums.

In Walked Bud, Terry Adams & Friends. Terry Adams - piano, Roswell Rudd - trombone, Pat Patrick - alto, John Ore - bass, Frankie Dunlop - drums.

Criss Cross, Shockabilly: Eugene Chadbourne - guitar, Mark Kramer - keyboards etc., David Licht - drums. (not on cassette)

Jackie-ing, same personnel as Brilliant Corners plus David Buck - trumpet, Don Davis - clarinet, Mars Williams - clarinet & tenor, Ralph Carney - bass sax & whistle.

Side Four.

'Round Midnight, Joe Jackson - piano, and strings.

Friday the Thirteenth, Bobby McFerrin & Bob Dorough - vocals, Dave Samuels - vibes, marimba & percussion.

Work, Chris Spedding & Peter Frampton.

Gallop's Gallop, Steve Lacy - soprano.

Bye-Ya, Steve Slagle - alto, Dr John - piano, Steve Swallow - bass, Ed Blackwell - drums.

Bemsha Swing, Steve Lacy - soprano, Gil Evans - electric and acoustic pianos.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Guy

[Van Basten II]

Yes they are on DIW on a Japanese importation. With the subtitle Live from Soundscape series

I have not listened to them since awhile, but i remember enjoying them.

http://www.geocities.com/cherry_tapes/intmonk.htm

Edited February 26, 2007 by Van Basten II

[paul secor]

Interpretations of Monk is fine stuff - might still be available on DIW.

That's the Way I Feel Now is entertaining - sometimes a bit more than that.

[ep1str0phy]

I'm interested in the Interpretations sets, but I haven't heard them.

The Rundgren thing/album is one of Hal Wilner's tribute grabbags--maybe not the taste of the hard-bop/post-bop fan (lots of avant/noise rock on these sets, although the "jazz" content of the Monk album is evident in the lineups involved). I guess the proper phrase would be "multi" or "trans-idiomatic", and it may look like a train-wreck, but I find this brand of tribute album pretty engaging.

[ejp626]

Interpretations of Monk should be floating around there. I picked up a set from DMG, but that was several years back. Most of it is really good.

That's the Way I Feel Now is pretty interesting. I don't like the Bobby McFerrin, but most of the rest is good. I actually like the Work piece quite a bit -- it is done with a driving beat that is really catchy. This is a case where the LP (a 2 LP set) has more material than the cassette or the very limited edition CD.

[brownie]

I like 'Interpretations of Monk'. However I was more impressed by the lineup which looked fantastic than by the actual performances. It took me a long time to get the double CD but it's not a set I return to very often.

I did not expect all that much from 'That's the Way I Feel Now' but I was really impressed by the Hal Wilner concept and the enthusiasm that pours out of the various interpretations. I love that one!

Edited February 26, 2007 by brownie

[jazzbo]

I'm pretty much with Guy (brownie) on the Interpretations/Live from Soundscape. I haven't heard the tribute lp, at one point this was to come out on cd (again?) but didn't but I confess to loving the Willmer Mingus tribute.

[JohnS]

The DIW lps are well worth seeking out, some very nice stuff. Hal Wilner's interpretations are for the most part very listenable. I'm not positive but I think I recall a single cd reissue of the material but think it may have been edited slightly.

Edited February 26, 2007 by JohnS

[BruceH]

I did not expect all that much from 'That's the Way I Feel Now' but I was really impressed by the Hal Wilner concept and the enthusiasm that pours out of the various interpretations. I love that one!

I've got that double-LP floating in my collection somewhere. As I recall, most of it is pretty good.

[ep1str0phy]

I'm pretty much with Guy (brownie) on the Interpretations/Live from Soundscape. I haven't heard the tribute lp, at one point this was to come out on cd (again?) but didn't but I confess to loving the Willmer Mingus tribute.

The Mingus tribute is pretty good, IMO. My girl got a copy of one his more recent projects (it's pirate-themed and co-produced by Johnny Depp), Chanteys and Sea Songs. It's got the usual cast of characters (Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell), but--typically--a few weird-ass oddities (John C. Reilly singing some raunchy tune about peg-legged persons...). For my money, these tributes are a million times more interesting than the scores of remix projects and "straight" interpretations that regularly flood the tribute bins.

[B. Clugston]

Interpretations of Monk has some nice moments but never added up to the sum of its parts for me. The band as a whole doesn’t gel, but there are moments where some of the musicians with long-standing histories with each other really lock in (ie. Lacy and Waldron, Blackwell and Cherry). Rouse and Lacy are in fine form, however.

That being said, the Mal Waldron disc is fantastic. The Barry Harris disc is also good, while Anthony Davis does a great homage and it’s great to hear Abrams in this context.

[JSngry]

...Anthony Davis does a great homage and it’s great to hear Abrams in this context.

Yeah, I'd recommend the albums just for those two. Everybody else, yeah, ok, but.

The Wilner/Monk thing is ok, something to hear at least once, but for me, not a lot of it has real staying power other than something to pull out once in a while to see if anything's changed.

Wilner's first project,though, a Nina Rota project, is much more succesful in that regard, I think. But good luck finding it.

[jazzbo]

I'm pretty much with Guy (brownie) on the Interpretations/Live from Soundscape. I haven't heard the tribute lp, at one point this was to come out on cd (again?) but didn't but I confess to loving the Willmer Mingus tribute.

The Mingus tribute is pretty good, IMO. My girl got a copy of one his more recent projects (it's pirate-themed and co-produced by Johnny Depp), Chanteys and Sea Songs. It's got the usual cast of characters (Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell), but--typically--a few weird-ass oddities (John C. Reilly singing some raunchy tune about peg-legged persons...). For my money, these tributes are a million times more interesting than the scores of remix projects and "straight" interpretations that regularly flood the tribute bins.

The Mingus Wilmer was moved for me to the next level by the use of Harry Partch instruments. Just love the blend.

[MartyJazz]

Well, I attended the evening concert of the Interpretations of Monk at Columbia University back in November '81 and if I recall correctly, Ed Rhodes, another Org subscriber, was also there. I thought it was a fabulous concert. The following week, WKCR broadcast both the afternoon and evening concerts and for quite a few years, all I listened to were the cassettes that I dubbed off the radio. When the DIW 4 disc set came out, I grabbed it and have listened to it from time to time since. I still think that it was both a great event and tribute to Thelonious who died the following February and that the music holds up very well these many years later.

Edited February 28, 2007 by MartyJazz

[relyles]

I am considering purchasing these sets and wonder whether anyone has any insight regarding any qualitative differences (sound quality, packaging) between the DIW and Koch issues of this music?

[danasgoodstuff]

I like That's the Way I Feel Now more than JSngry, but have to agree that Amacord Nina Rota was the best of Wilner's VA trib things...

The othe albums under discussion I have half of and enjoy but I was never inspired enuff to seek out the other half...

Edited December 19, 2009 by danasgoodstuff

[jazzbo]

I am considering purchasing these sets and wonder whether anyone has any insight regarding any qualitative differences (sound quality, packaging) between the DIW and Koch issues of this music?

I would get what's available. Don't think there's much difference. I've heard both versions, but they were at different times in different homes and different systems, so I can't be certain there's considerable differences sonically. But didn't seem to be. I haven't been able to study the packaging of both, but doubt there's much to bother about.

[mikeweil]

The problem with these performances is, as great as it is to hear all these fine players do Monk, that it is more of a jam session approach than a carefully planned and arranged event. That lessens the potential somewhat. If you would like to hear these guys solo on Monk tunes, go for it. But they are not as dense as some better planned Monk tributes or Monk's own versions.

Edited December 19, 2009 by mikeweil

[fomafomic65]

Interpretations of Monk has some nice moments but never added up to the sum of its parts for me. The band as a whole doesn’t gel, but there are moments where some of the musicians with long-standing histories with each other really lock in (ie. Lacy and Waldron, Blackwell and Cherry). Rouse and Lacy are in fine form, however.

That being said, the Mal Waldron disc is fantastic. The Barry Harris disc is also good, while Anthony Davis does a great homage and it’s great to hear Abrams in this context.

Indeed.

Cherry is a scandal all the sessions long. I like the whole project (I bought the DIW four cds complete edition) really because it had Lacy and Rudd together. They play as they are known to, very good. The music is a bit too similar overall but is mainly Cherry -a musician I absolutely love- who seems to me here generally inadeguate and out of energy and concentration -not to mention intonation- on those performances.

[Hot Ptah]

I think that Cherry lost his chops as the sets progressed. He really should have sat out the last two sets, or at least not soloed during them. His lips sound like they are just shot. It is sad to hear.

[JohnS]

I have to say I like this set, it's nicely loose, (I have the DIW 4cd set). The shortcomings, if indeed there are any, are very minor imo. All pianists are in good form as are the horn players. Cherry scrabbles around a bit but then he often does.

[brownie]

Cherry scrabbles around a bit but then he often does.

Always thought it was part of the poetic charm of his music

[Teasing the Korean]

Love Todd's version of "Four in One."

Edited January 3, 2010 by Teasing the Korean

[Hot Ptah]

Cherry scrabbles around a bit but then he often does.

Always thought it was part of the poetic charm of his music

I would agree with you on many of Cherry's albums. On this one, it is different to my ears. He sounds like a student trumpeter whose lips cannot play one more note--I have been there, as a high school trumpet player years ago. I wince when I remember when it happened to me, and it sounds just like what is happening to Cherry as this 4 CD set progresses.