Kronos Quartet plays Monk/Ellington

[Craig23]

Kronos Quartet - Monk Suite

Has anyone heard this? It also has a few Ellington tracks. I haven't heard it but was wondering what others thought.

[Rooster_Ties]

For what it is, thumbs-up (as I recall). I have both of the Kronos Quartet "jazz" discs (can't remember what composer the other one is the focus of), but as interesting string quartet albums, I remember finding them pretty good. Better than most at this sort of hybrid.

Now whether this kind of thing "works" in the first place, is probably open to debate. I really like string quartets, so these were an interesting concept that turned out pretty good, to my ears. I've never gotten into the Turtle Island String Quartet, however (different group, I know). They've always left me a bit flat.

[Craig23]

I have always thought that Kronos was good at what they do, but they should probably leave jazz alone. Their other jazz cover was Music of Bill Evans, which I haven't heard in years and only heard once (didn't like it, but it was too long ago to remember why).

[Brandon Burke]

They also do "Lonely Woman" on White Man Sleeps.

[mailman]

I've got the Monk/Ellington and the Bill Evans. OK but by no means essential unless you really love this kind of thing.

[Rooster_Ties]

Oh yeah, Bill Evans. Been years since I've listened to either one -- but I remember the Bill Evans disc being stronger than the Ellington/Monk disc.

[Chuck Nessa]

Sorry, the Kronos gives me the "heebie jeebies" nomatter the music they play.

[nina low]

Kronos is so eclectic in their choice of composers from Zappa to Reich to Piazzola etc. that it seems logical that they would also choose Monk and Evans. We are so familiar with the sounds of Monk and Evans that when placed it in a different format we may be over critical. It would be interesting to hear from someone who loves string quartets but is not familiar with Monk/Evans. I think this was last reissued as a double cd on 32Jazz which also re-issued other Landmark music.

[chris olivarez]

I've always liked the group. Some of the stuff they've done is pretty off the wall but they are fearless. I might check this out in the future.Thanks for the heads up.

[Rooster_Ties]

Sorry, the Kronos gives me the "heebie jeebies" nomatter the music they play.

I know what you're talking about, Chuck -- but some of the material they play (and have arranged for string quartet), trumps and transcends their "heebie jeebie"-factor.

For me, the Bill Evans disc is great, partly on the strength of the tunes themselves.

[Brandon Burke]

Sorry, the Kronos gives me the "heebie jeebies" nomatter the music they play.

I know what you're talking about, Chuck -- but some of the material they play (and have arranged for string quartet), trumps and transcends their "heebie jeebie"-factor.

For me, the Bill Evans disc is great, partly on the strength of the tunes themselves.

I was going to say something about this too but they started talking about Kansas basketball on Sportscenter.

Kronos is great in some settings but entirely inappropriate (if not comedically so) in others. I have absolutely no intetest in heraing them play "world" music of any sort. And the jazz stuff is not far behind. Basically, any medium that otherwise involves improvisation should be left to improvisers.

On the other hand, I very much like their versions of Crumb's Black Angels and Feldman's Piano and String Quartet (w/ Aki Takahashi). I also enjoyed them with Philip Glass on that Dracula tour where they played along with the film in realtime. I'm not typically much of a Glass fan either but I did enjoy that score.

Edited March 26, 2004 by Brandon Burke

[Tom in RI]

I like the Kronos lp cited here. They don't improvise, they leave that to guest Ron Carter. It has been my experience that most jazz fans I've talked to about this lp seem to be left cold by it, I don't know why. Turtle Island Quartet, mentioned above, recently played here in Providence. They gave a "Demonstration" in the afternoon where they played and talked about what they do. From their comments I'd say they see themselves as heavily influenced by jazz. I've enjoyed most of what I've heard from them. Any body here heard Buell Neildlinger's Blue Chopsticks? That features a string trio along with sax and trumpet in a tribute to Herbie Nichols. Richard Greene, who plays on Blue Chopsticks, has also released some jazz pieces arranged for string quartet including Don Pullen's Big Alice. I have a definite fascination for this kind of stuff and would like to be turned on to more.

Edited March 28, 2004 by Tom in RI