Theologians and scientists have argued for decades when life actually begins, but for jazz fans, it’s fairly easy. Modern jazz was born in 1947 when Thelonious Sphere Monk and his friends Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clarke made their initial bebop records. Here, you’ve got the very first sessions that be-bop pioneer Thelonious Monk put together, and to say that they changed the direction of music is like saying that the book of Genesis gives some information about God. This material was earth shaking then, and its ripples are still observed today by a plethora of pianists and composers who desperately try to get the joy, feel and idiosyncracity of the genius, but always fall short. Here’s the real deal.
Most of the recordings feature Monk with his reliable and heart-beat of a rhythm team consisting of either Art Blakey , Max Roach or Shadow Wilson on drums, Gene Ramey, Robert Paige, Nelson Boyd or Al McKibbon on bass and a rotating guest list of Kenny Dorham/tp, Idrees Sulieman/tp, Lou Donaldson/as, Danny Quebec West/as, Billy Smith/ts, Sahib Shihab/as and vibist Milt Jackson. The Juicy Lucy’s here are the trio pieces where definitive readings of “Well, You Needn’t,” “Epistrophy,” and “Ruby, My Dear” are cut down to beyond the marrow the actual corpuscles of modern music. As for the first delivery of “Round Midnight,” Shihab’s alto sears through the intro in stark contrast to Monk’s jarred yet haunting touch on the ivories.Sulieman lets loose on with a blastoff trajectory on “Humph” and all throughout the driving drums supplied by Blakey need to be rated by Richter. Joyful and assertive bop is felt in abundance when ricocheting vibes and piano keys make for kinetic energy on “Epistrophy” and “I Mean You.” There’s also some rich baritone singing by Kenny Hagood on “I Should Care” and “All The Things You Are” that became classics of their own.
The thing that is most striking about these songs that came out in 78 rpm form, and are listed here chronologically for the first time, is the intensity of the impact that Monk makes for his initial recordings. He hits the ground running from a series of 1947 sessions that has an impact akin the the landing of the 101 airborne division into France. Imagine that anyone today could have their first handful of sessions include material as powerful and timeless as “Thelonious,” “‘Round About Midnight,” “Well You Needn’t,” “Off Minor,” “In Walked Bud,” “Ruby My Dear” and “Epistrophy”; it’s enough to make your head spin.
Everything here was a major paradigm shift in modern music, and like Luther’s Reformation, changed the way we looked at life. A Desert Island Delight!
Blue Note Records