So…hopefully this post will save us all from Pat’s oxymoronic ramblings. I have recently been hired as the Jazz Format Manager at Grinnell’s very own KDIC Radio 88.5fm. Other than getting paid 200 big-ones per semester, I am also responsible for contacting various record labels and getting them to send me more jazz and/or blues music so we can play it on the air. I then decide which of this music to play, and then keep track of the general jazz/blues catalog. If you haven’t already figured out, this is quite awesome. I am actually getting paid to be a part of the wonderful world of radio. It’s a particularly good bit of news considering the success/failure of my film festival submission at Grinnell. (I’m still trying to grasp the awesomeness of my award.) Anyway, since I have been granted the power to control jazz within a 20-mile radius of Grinnell, I thought I’d post about another jazz album. (This, hopefully, will counteract the postings of my colleague). So, without further ado:



Underground--Thelonious Monk
In my review of Porgy and Bess, I mentioned Thelonious Monk and his brilliance. I now intend to follow up on that statement. But first, a little history. One fascinating thing about Monk is that he wrote the majority of his songs before his thirties and then proceeded to re-record them with different arrangements, first primarily on Riverside Records and then on Columbia (which some consider to be his “sell-out” period). All the albums that I actually own are from Columbia, so I can’t make a judgment either way; all I can say is that they’re damn good. It’s also important to note Monk’s unique style on the keys. Some may call Monk a musical humorist. He would play a note that sounds clearly wrong, but the next time through the entire band would play the note. This gave his compositions a magnificently original sound. Unfortunately, it was also the reason why some failed to take his music seriously. Still, that didn't stop him from helping to create the style of jazz that we know as BeBop.

Underground was released in 1968, toward the end of Monk’s recording career. However, some jazzophiles consider this somewhat of a comeback album for Thelonious. As mentioned above, Monk was into re-recording the same compositions over and over. Underground marked the release of three original tracks: “Ugly Beauty” (the only Monk composition to be written in walz-time), “Green Chimneys” and “Boo-Boo’s Birthday.” All three of these tracks are certainly winners, but the success of Underground goes even further. It actually won a Grammy for best cover art. (Which is why I made sure to post a picture. Is it not awesome?)

The album kicks off with an older composition—“Thelonious.” This track swings along with the quartet. Over two decades old, this was one of the first tracks Monk recorded for the Blue Note label. Excellent piano-work by Monk and quality drumming by Ben Riley help the album to get off on the right foot. “Ugly Beauty” slows down the pace a bit, and Charlie Rouse steals the song with a smooth tenor sax. The next track, “Raise Four” is certain to jolt you awake if you’d been dozing. Monk throws down a piano theme so angular, it will make your neck hurt. Yet, it has an almost hypnotic quality. “Boo Boo’s Birthday” is a more standard track featuring another quality performance by Rouse and another great theme from Monk. “Easy Street” sounds just like its title, a laid back jazz standard featuring Monk exploring the ivory while Riley and Larry Gales set a walking pace for him to dance around. Roles switch a bit mid track as Gales whips out a bow and solos it up. The epic “Green Chimneys” follows thereafter with a playful tone that makes all too much sense when one learns that the composition is named for the school that Monk’s daughter attended. The quartet works well together here and creates a very full sound (Riley also has a truly righteous drum solo). Things wrap up with an older Monk composition—“In Walked Bud.” This is the real surprise of the album as Jon Hendricks stops by to lend his vocals. This track is just so swinging that I can’t help but call it one of my all-time favorites from Monk.

So there you have it. If you bothered to read all that, you now know what I have to say about Thelonious Monk’s Underground. If you liked what you read, go ahead and pick it up. But you don’t have to start here; in fact, you can rarely go wrong with Monk.

And because I want to leave you with something humorous and liberal:
When Bill Clinton was first running for the presidency, he went on countless shows and gave countless interviews. Clinton was a pretty hip guy. In fact, he even did an interview for MTV. During this interview, Clinton was asked what he dreamt of doing. He replied that he had always wanted to play sax with Thelonious Monk. To which the interviewer replied, “And who was the loneliest monk?”
I want my MTV.

Cheers.