Monk in Solo
I've been a fan of Thelonious Monk since I was in my teen years. I loved the jaggedness and angularity of his lines; both rhythmically and melodically. I certainly liked, and was drawn to, his composing. I was completely taken with his use of major and minor seconds in his lines, and that element of his playing impacted me then, and up to and including the present day. At that time, upon stating that I loved Monk, one of my undergrad college professors exclaimed, "You're not old enough to love Monk!" I'm not sure what he meant by that; maybe that Monk was an acquired taste, or that you have to evolve into understanding Monk. No idea, but I remained a Monk devotee undeterred. Some of my favorite Monk records are his solo recordings: Thelonious Himself : Recorded in New York City; April 12 and 16, 1957. Alone in San Francisco : Recorded in San Francisco in Fugazi Hall ; October 21-22, 1959. Solo Monk : Recorded at various ti...
