Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins • Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins

 

 Since a 50th Anniversary edition of this recording was released only several years ago, it's possible that this recent RVG edition was seen by the parent company, Concord, as an opportunity to capitalize on the success—critical and popular—of the Monk/Coltrane Carnegie Hall concert (Blue Note, 2005). Regardless, this early meeting of masters, while yielding music of undeniable historical significance and timeless interest, is no match for the later one.

To begin with, the title is deceptive. Rollins and Monk play together on three of the five tracks on the album, which comprises three separate sessions recorded between November 1953 and September 1954. On the opening "Way You Look Tonight Monk's solo is a mere half chorus—played in a fairly conventional bebop style. This leaves but two tunes, "I Want to Be Happy and "Friday the 13th, on which the two strong musical personalities seek to negotiate a happy result.

The proceedings are enjoyable, frequently original and illuminating, but not as miraculous as some reviews of earlier editions have suggested. It's instructive to hear the "real" Monk emerge on "Happy," allowing the beat to establish itself before he plays off of and around it, making the piano another polyrhythmic, percussive voice—as opposed to a solo voice accompanied by rhythm section or simply another member of the accompanying team itself.

The individualist/pianist solos for three choruses, each discretely original in conception and execution. After a chorus of connected, seamless lines played in the middle register, he leaps to the upper register for the second chorus, jabbing dissonant chord clusters at irregular intervals in the unfilled space. The third chorus finds him relinquishing his left hand to its independent devices while maintaining an elliptical melody in the right. Always an authoritative solo voice, Rollins seems emboldened by Monk's example, playing with unmistakable conviction, especially compared to his work on an earlier session like Miles Davis' Diggin' (Prestige, 1951), where the tenorist clearly was aiming to make an impression.

Still, after hearing the Monk/Coltrane concert this encounter is inescapably anticlimactic. Rollins, whose playing anticipates some of the melodic/rhythmic characteristics of his successor Charlie Rouse, lacks the light articulations and responsive quickness of the less-renowned player. Compared to Rouse's sportive playfulness, the tenor colossus sounds somewhat heavy and ponderous in Monk country. On the other hand, Coltrane's intensity meshes with Monk's whimsy because the piano "grounds the rapturous, altissimo flights of the tenor saxophone, as though Monk's insistent harmonies and unyielding time are the falconer around which the falcon's gyres are free to expend themselves without spiraling out of control.

Julius Watkins adds his solo voice for Monk's extended and challenging (certainly for the listener) four-bar composition, "Friday the 13th, and the album is rounded out by the two trio numbers which, though they include Blakey, aren't the equal of the later dialog between the pianist and the percussionist on Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Atlantic, 1957)—a fascinating and lively, yet ultimately one-sided conversation that might just as well have been titled "The Thelonious Monk Quintet."

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/thelonious-monk-sonny-rollins-thelonious-monk-prestige-records-review-by-samuel-chell.php

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 Dado que la edición del 50 aniversario de esta grabación fue lanzada hace sólo varios años, es posible que esta reciente edición de RVG fuera vista por la compañía matriz, Concord, como una oportunidad para capitalizar el éxito -crítico y popular- del concierto de Monk/Coltrane Carnegie Hall (Blue Note, 2005). A pesar de todo, este primer encuentro de maestros, si bien produce una música de innegable importancia histórica e interés intemporal, no es rival para el posterior.

Para empezar, el título es engañoso. Rollins y Monk tocan juntos en tres de los cinco temas del álbum, que comprende tres sesiones separadas grabadas entre noviembre de 1953 y septiembre de 1954. En la apertura "Way You Look Tonight Monk's solo es un mero medio coro, interpretado en un estilo de bebop bastante convencional. Esto deja sólo dos temas, "I Want to Be Happy" y "Friday the 13th", en los que las dos fuertes personalidades de la música buscan negociar un resultado feliz.

Las actas son amenas, a menudo originales e iluminadoras, pero no tan milagrosas como han sugerido algunas reseñas de ediciones anteriores. Es instructivo escuchar al Monje "real" emerger sobre "Happy", permitiendo que el ritmo se establezca antes de tocar y alrededor de él, convirtiendo al piano en otra voz polirrítmica y percusiva, a diferencia de una voz solista acompañada de una sección rítmica o simplemente de otro miembro del equipo de acompañamiento.

Los solos individualistas/pianistas de tres coros, cada uno discretamente original en su concepción y ejecución. Después de un coro de líneas conectadas y sin fisuras tocadas en el registro medio, salta al registro superior para el segundo coro, golpeando grupos de acordes disonantes a intervalos irregulares en el espacio sin llenar. El tercer estribillo lo encuentra cediendo su mano izquierda a sus dispositivos independientes mientras mantiene una melodía elíptica en la derecha. Siempre una voz solista autoritaria, Rollins parece envalentonado por el ejemplo de Monk, jugando con una convicción inconfundible, especialmente en comparación con su trabajo en una sesión anterior como la de Miles Davis' Diggin' (Prestige, 1951), en la que el tenorista claramente intentaba causar una impresión.

Sin embargo, después de escuchar el concierto de Monk/Coltrane, este encuentro es ineludiblemente anticlimático. Rollins, cuya interpretación anticipa algunas de las características melódicas y rítmicas de su sucesor Charlie Rouse, carece de las ligeras articulaciones y de la rapidez de respuesta del intérprete menos conocido. Comparado con la juguetonería deportiva de Rouse, el tenor coloso suena algo pesado y pesado en el país de los monjes. Por otro lado, la intensidad de Coltrane se entremezcla con el capricho de Monk porque el piano "fundamenta los alegres y altisimos vuelos del saxofón tenor, como si las insistentes armonías de Monk y el tiempo inflexible fueran el halconero alrededor del cual las gyres de los halcones son libres de gastar su tiempo sin perder el control".

Julius Watkins añade su voz solista para la extensa y desafiante composición de cuatro compases de Monk, "Viernes 13, y el álbum se completa con los dos números de trío que, aunque incluyen a Blakey, no son iguales al diálogo posterior entre el pianista y el percusionista de Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers con Thelonious Monk (Atlantic, 1957), una conversación fascinante y animada, aunque en última instancia, de un solo lado que podría haberse titulado "The The The Thelonious Monk Quintet".

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/thelonious-monk-sonny-rollins-thelonious-monk-prestige-records-review-by-samuel-chell.php

Tracklist:
1 - The Way You Look Tonight - 5:09
2 - I Want To Be Happy - 7:41
3 - Work - 5:15
4 - Nutty - 5:13
5 - Friday The 13th - 10:31


Personnel:
    Thelonious Monk – piano trio on "Work" and "Nutty"
    Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone on "The Way You Look Tonight," "I Want to Be Happy," and "Friday the 13th"
    Julius Watkins – french horn on "Friday the 13th"
    Percy Heath – bass on "Work," "Nutty," and "Friday the 13th"
    Tommy Potter – bass on "The Way You Look Tonight" and "I Want to Be Happy
    Art Taylor – drums on "The Way You Look Tonight" and "I Want to Be Happy"
    Art Blakey – drums on "Work" and "Nutty"
    Willie Jones – drums on "Friday the 13th"


Notes
Recorded At – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
Engineer [Recording] – Doug Hawkins (tracks: 5), Rudy Van Gelder (tracks: 1 to 4)
1 & 2 recorded in Hackensack, NJ; October 25, 1954
3 & 4 recorded in Hackensack, NJ; September 22, 1954
5 recorded at WOR Studios, New York City; November 13, 1953
Remastered By – Joe Tarantino


Label: Original Jazz Classics ‎– OJCCD-059-2, Prestige ‎– P-7075
Released: 1992
Original Release: 1956
Genre: Jazz
Style: Bop

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