Thelonious Monk Trio
Encyclopedia
Thelonious Monk Trio is an album by jazz
pianist
and composer
Thelonious Monk
featuring his earliest recordings for the Prestige
label performed by Monk with Gerry Mapp and Art Blakey
or Max Roach
and one track with Percy Heath
replacing Mapp. The Allmusic review by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. describes the album as "Intimate, intense, and inspired, Thelonious Monk Trio offers 35 minutes of professional musicians practicing their craft". The album contains the earliest recorded version of the jazz standards "Blue Monk" and "Bemsha Swing".
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
featuring his earliest recordings for the Prestige
Prestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
label performed by Monk with Gerry Mapp and Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
or Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
and one track with Percy Heath
Percy Heath
Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975...
replacing Mapp. The Allmusic review by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. describes the album as "Intimate, intense, and inspired, Thelonious Monk Trio offers 35 minutes of professional musicians practicing their craft". The album contains the earliest recorded version of the jazz standards "Blue Monk" and "Bemsha Swing".
Track listing
- All compositions by Thelonious Monk except as indicated
- "Blue MonkBlue Monk"Blue Monk" is a jazz standard written by Thelonious Monk that has become one of his most enduring tunes. It is a B flat blues, based on the jazz tune "Pastel Blue".-Performances:*1960: The Great Kai & J.J. by J. J...
" - 7:39 - "Just a GigoloJust a Gigolo (song)"Just a Gigolo" is a popular song, adapted by Irving Caesar in 1929 from the Austrian song "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo", written in 1928 by Leonello Casucci and Julius Brammer .-History:...
" (Julius BrammerJulius BrammerJulius Brammer was an Austrian librettist and lyricist. Some of his better-known works were written in conjunction with the composers Emmerich Kálmán, Oscar Straus, Leo Ascher, Edmund Eysler and Robert Stolz....
, Irving CaesarIrving CaesarIrving Caesar was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for "Swanee," "Sometimes I'm Happy," "Crazy Rhythm," and "Tea for Two," one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. He was born and died in New York.Caesar, the son of Morris Keiser, a Romanian Jew, was...
, Leonello CasucciLeonello CasucciLeonello Casucci was a composer.Casucci is best known for composing the music of the world-famous song "Schöner Gigolo" in 1929, with lyrics by Julius Brammer). The English lyrics for "Just a Gigolo" were provided by Irving Caesar....
) - 3:00 - "Bemsha SwingBemsha SwingBemsha Swing is a jazz standard co-written by Thelonious Monk and Denzil Best.The tune is 16 bars in the form of AABA. It is in 4/4 meter but is often played with a 2-feel...
" - 3:10 - "Reflections" - 2:48
- "Little Rootie Tootie" - 3:06
- "Sweet and Lovely" (Gus Amheim, Jules LeMare, Harry TobiasHarry TobiasHarry Tobias was an American lyricist. Like his younger brother Charles, he is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame....
) - 3:33 - "Bye-Ya" - 2:46
- "Monk's Dream" - 3:07
- "Trinkle, Tinkle" - 2:49
- "These Foolish ThingsThese Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)"These Foolish Things " is a standard with words by Eric Maschwitz and music by Jack Strachey. Harry Link, an American, sometimes appears as a co-writer, but his input was probably limited to changes to suit the U.S. market. It is one of a group of 'Mayfair Songs', like "A Nightingale Sang in...
" (Harry LinkHarry LinkHarry Link, born Harry Linkey was an American songwriter. He wrote or co-wrote several well-known jazz standards....
, Holt Marvell, Jack StracheyJack StracheyJack Strachey , was an English composer and songwriterBorn John Francis Strachey in London, England on 25 September 1894 he began writing songs in the 1920s for the theatre and the music hall, scoring his first success with songs he had written for Frith Shephard's long running musical revue Lady...
) - 2:46- Recorded in New York City on October 15 (tracks 5-8), December 18 (tracks 3, 4, 9 & 10), 1952 and September 22, 1954 (tracks 1 & 2)
- "Blue Monk
Personnel
- Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Percy HeathPercy HeathPercy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975...
- bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
(track 1) - Art BlakeyArt BlakeyArthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(tracks 1 & 5-8) - Gerry Mapp - bass (tracks 5-8)
- Max RoachMax RoachMaxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
- drums (tracks 3, 4, 9 & 10)