Another music less morning walk with Lady as I ponder the
question of what to play today. By this
stage we had already seen “M” off to work because I had elected to work from
home. I am doing this in order to draft
an issues paper and find that it is easier to think and write without the usual
workplace distractions. I therefore need
music that will not intrude too much on the process.
My requirements for today will require long playing discs
that will not cause frequent disruption through constant changing. More
importantly, as I need to set aside some time for thinking, the music should
ideally be instrumental as I find there is nothing more distracting than the
human voice. Long instrumental passages
do not tend to distract me irrespective of whether it is a reggae dub, guitar
solo, keyboard passage, electronic collage or feedback excursion. In my experience I find this assists the
thinking process. I’m not sure how to
express this but I think an instrumental passage is an exercise in abstract
sound construction perfect for situations when the human brain requires a
similar level of abstraction for thinking through complex issues. But add the
human voice and the whole process collapses as completely and effectively as the
office gossip that arrives to spread the latest scuttlebutt when you’re deep in
thought. How easy is it to pick up the
thread of your thought process after the gossip has left? Well it’s the same thing working at home if
you’ve chosen your music badly except that instead of the office gossip you’ll
be blaming whoever’s singing. And if
that singer has profound lyrics to work with, the disruption is magnified. Put all of this together and it becomes
reasonably clear to me that the music of the day will be jazz.
Given that I have little interest in and no grounding or
inclination towards classical music, jazz, or to slip into pedantry,
instrumental jazz, is the logical choice.
Obviously there is the lack of human voice. The second consideration is the very nature
of jazz itself. For me, the type of jazz
I prefer is the sound of musical exploration.
In most instances, I sense that the artist is on a quest that starts
from a mutually agreed point among the musicians and continues for as long as
necessary, sometimes through darkness, until a common exit point is sensed,
groped towards and eventually found. It
is no surprise to me why there are so many versions of jazz classics – to take
a random example, A Night In Tunisia – which sound radically different. In other words, I view jazz as the aural equivalent
of conceptual thinking and perfect for today’s task.
But many of the classic jazz albums, at least as these were
originally released, were not particularly long, even by vinyl album standards. Even releases with bonus tracks, such as the
Rudy Van Gelder Editions of the Blue Note catalogue, barely reach the hour
mark, if at all. This is where a
relatively recent development is fits in.
During the last year or two, labels predominantly based in Great
Britain, have been releasing 2 or 4 disc collections bringing together 3 – 8
albums by the one artist. I’m not sure
how this occurring, although I do notice that this appears to be occurring with
albums released up to the early 1960’s only which makes me think that this
could very well be connected to GB’s copyright laws. (This is a complete stab in the dark and I’m
not a lawyer so chances are that I’m wrong but it is interesting to speculate.) Even more significantly, these releases, at
least in Australia are sold at a very reasonable price allowing one to build up
a jazz collection relatively easily.
It is to one of such releases that I’ve pulled out of my
crate. Technically speaking the title is
Thelonious Monk - Eight Classic Albums.
This doesn’t necessary mean that each of the original albums were
credited to him. Two of these are
another act’s release on which Monk has guested (a common occurrence in jazz
circles) and a third is effectively a shared release. Additionally, Art Blakey is the drummer on
the great majority of (if not all) tracks on most of the albums, so compilers
could have been justified in titling this as Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey –
Eight Classic Albums.
Monk is certainly one of my favourite jazz players worthy of
being mentioned in the same breath as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans,
Charles Mingus and Keith Jarrett. Like
Evans and Jarrett, Monk is a pianist which is my jazz solo instrument of
choice. (Mingus also released an album
on which he played piano.) I’m not
exactly sure why that is but I suspect that it is the instrument which is most
difficult in a jazz context due to a perceived increased range of notes that
could be played. In other words, it’s
the instrument in which it is easier to get lost in your exploration. (This is more than a stab in the dark, so if
anyone wants to correct me feel free. If
I’m wrong, so be it; it’s my perception, right or wrong, that I’m recording
here.)
None of these albums are in the running for the title of
Monk’s best album. That crown rests
firmly on the head of his seminal releases Genius Of Modern Music Vol. 1 and
2. There is something in each of the
eight albums to recommend it. The albums
are:
Monk (1954): a solid early effort on which he is accompanied
on each track be either Blakey or Sonny Rollins.
Monk’s Music (1957): a great album but unsurprising given
that he is accompanied by Blakely, Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins.
Thelonious Monk Plays The Music Of Duke Ellington (1955):
one great of American Music plays the music of another. This is the first of the Monk trio albums in
this collection. My preference is for
Monk to play solo or in a trio because he, on occasion, could be too
generous in providing room to his soloists.
The Unique Thelonious Monk (1956): once again in a trio,
this time with Blakey. Honeysuckle Rose
anyone?
Mulligan Meets Monk (1957): the only Gerry Mulligan album in
my collection to date with great saxophone and some nifty double bass.
Thelonious Monk And Sonny Rollins (1954): Rollins appears on
only three of the five tracks on this which also boasts a who’s who of jazz drummers.
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk (1957):
strangely enough it is neither Blakey or Monk that stars here. The title goes to Johnny Griffin whose sax
work throughout is inspired,
Thelonious Monk Trio (1957): a solid effort with drumming from either
Blakey or Max Roach.
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