Saturday, September 16, 2017

Blackstar 61: Paradoxically

Oh, blogging gods! How can I make this post any different from my last one? There are just too many similarities!

Both posts pertain to music that:
  1. I wasn’t looking for in the first place.
  2. Is performed by an artist from whom I’ve already gotten a ton of stuff.
  3. Is mostly made up of songs I already have . 
  4. … Is, all right, different renditions of those songs. 
  5. Is Jazz, and since it’s summertime, jazz shouldn’t be a priority for me now.
  6. Is on f*cking amazon.com for $3.99!
And in this case it’s not a single album either, but rather a two-in-one set: one that float by so effortlessly all of the above caveats melt away, and make me dream of putting all of this artist's songs - sometimes six and seven versions of each - into a single playlist, and then sort it alphabetically, so I can hear all six versions one after the other.

I'll have to warn Mrs. Jaybee ahead of time. Even she - has her limits.



Thelonious Monk: 2 Classic Albums

Jazz can be a very tricky and daunting genre to get into. For every masterpiece, there are two or three awkwardly (or cynically) slapped-together compilations to bore or puzzle you. So any album - especially a two-fer - in the $3.99 bin should be viewed upon with suspicion.

Now, I’ve done very well by Monk. There isn’t a single album of his I haven’t liked. But even I had a hard time believing I could get two really good albums for such a low price.

But sometimes, pure, dumb luck wins out. It’s what makes me think the universe errs slightly on the benign side, despite all evidence to the contrary.

So, how did we do? Well, given the stature of the artist in question, I’m going to tackle each album separately.



The Thelonious Monk Orchestra: At Town Hall

I had my doubts about an “orchestra” (actually, in this case, a “tentet”) doing Monk tunes, even with Monk in the band. I’m not a big fan of the bit of Charlie Parker with Strings I know.

But this works great. Familiar tunes are given a sympathetic, but not reverential, treatment. The other nine guys can’t manage to overwhelm Monk - they’re too busy keeping up and flat out admiring him.

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Thelonious Monk: In Action

If you’ve never heard Monk before, you may want to start with this one. At least theoretically, fewer musicians should distract you less from the utter weirdness of the tunes.

But here’s the paradox: In my two-fer version, this one starts right up after Town Hall finishes, and you’d think there’d be a drastic change in tone going from ten to four musicians, but no. Monk’s tunes are either impervious, or just plain adaptive-in-the-extreme, to any such trivial matters such as there being four or ten musicians.

Another paradox (and by the way, paradoxes seem to be built into every song): Occasionally, a single musician does make a huge difference. This record comes from the same shows that gave us Misterioso (my favorite Monk album).  And the reason that record is so great is tenor saxophonist Johnny F*cking Griffin, whose contributions here are just as magical as those on Misterioso. (Why wasn’t that guy more famous?)

Anyway, my mere pop/rock brain won’t generate the words to adequately describe this music. Suffice to say, if you’re unfamiliar with Monk, (but are possessed of a pop/rock brain like me) your first reaction will likely be puzzlement.

But, ah, that’s the final paradox! Because his tunes are so strange, they aren’t boxed in by the “sophistication” that keeps a lot of jazz out of reach for you and me. Their very strangeness makes them memorable. And then they reveal their beauty.

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