Thelonious Monk
Plays Duke Ellington

Every era has its fashions, its styles, and its trends. In 1955, as is known, bebop was raging on Fifty-Second Street in New York, and people like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie had found followers and crowds that acclaimed them. Miles Davis, on the other hand, was becoming a protagonist of the so-called Cool Jazz and soon rock'n'roll would lead to a radical change in the musical culture of the 1900s.

In 1955, Thelonious Monk is known for being one of the most significant bop pianists, but unlike his fellow musicians (Bud Powell above all), ours is not exactly what we might immediately define as a virtuoso of the instrument (from a purely technical/executive standpoint), but rather he is a musician who defies the prevailing piano trends of the era. Monk's style is known to be fragmented, full of these sudden dynamic changes that give his music an almost primitive aspect of untamed charm.

In 1955, Monk once again demonstrates why he is important within the jazz scene of every era, and he does so with "Plays Duke Ellington," an album that pays homage to one of the fathers of this musical genre, the Duke, Duke Ellington, whose several masterworks are revisited. Probably Monk's choice to create a tribute album to Ellington goes beyond the Duke's notable influence on his music (and beyond) due to pressures from the record company, as they did not want to leave Thelonious completely free, aware of his exaggerated flair (things will change later).

Why is Monk so famous? As mentioned, he is not a virtuoso of the piano. A virtuoso in the technical/executive sense, he certainly is not, but a genius of composition and arrangement he is, and if a musician like Miles Davis (not just any dummy) states in his autobiography that ours has been his master and unveiled all sorts of secrets about that vast field called musical harmony, we should have no doubts.

Another fundamental aspect of Monk's music is the originality in rhythm, using syncopations and delays that give his music a unique and inimitable essence.

All these ingredients are present in "Plays Duke Ellington," starting from the first track "It don't mean a thing(if it ain't got that swing)," a track so famous that many jazz enthusiasts will have heard it a thousand times, not only reprised by Ellington but also by other icons (Armstrong and Fitzgerald just to name a couple), here however it is completely reimagined, the typical swing of the piece transforms, becoming more laid-back, softer, yet despite this, so overwhelming that within a few minutes you're there listening to it again and again and again...

Great space is also given to other masterpieces with softer tones (Sophisticated Lady and Solitude, the latter in solo piano) and to the talent of the musicians, a trio, indeed a trio playing pieces thought and arranged for a full orchestra!

Apart from the already overly mentioned Monk, on double bass stands out Oscar Pettiford, a great double bassist who at the time significantly raised the technical standards of jazz bass and who here shows great taste as well as skill in the solos of Caravan, "It don't mean a thing," and "I let a song go out of my heart."

On drums is Kenny Clarke, a historical drummer, a key figure in the jazz of that era, who builds a solid rhythmic section with Pettiford on which Monk can lean with extreme ease; to have proof of what I say, listen to "I got it bad and that ain't good", key words being simplicity and effectiveness.

To demonstrate that a great artist can pull an absolute masterpiece from the hat even without playing their own compositions, there's this album. I reviewed it for my intimate necessity, a need to share a thought that is day by day more solid, more than advice, it's an invitation to great music.