Meet Th' Monk

Thelonious Monk is frequently the rock fan's third gateway drug into jazz, after Miles and Coltrane (as noted before here, never refer to Miles as Davis, nor Coltrane as John, if you want your jazz cred to remain intact). By far the most interesting and sympathetic of the three in terms of attitude, technique and personality, his music has something maybe unique among his bop peers - a sense of humor. Not laugh-out-loud comedy - Monk (never Thelonious) never plays it for laughs, but wit is there in his idiosyncratic composition and playing. In spite of its "difficult" reputation, his music is fun, more likely to bring an attractively wry smile to your lips than a furrow to your brow.

Here's his earliest recording sessions from 1947, as "curated" [compiled - Ed.] for the 2001 Rudy Van Gelder reissue, and as a bonus, something I thought I was going to loathe but love to bits - last year's "re-imagining" [interpretation - Ed.] of his music by "Mast" [Tim Conley - Ed.], using contemporary recording techniques, beats, and feats. It's as fantastic as that exquisite cover art would lead you to hope, and shows, seventy-two freakin' years on, that Monk's music is truly timeless.

Swell jazztertainment for Sunday!