'Live at the It Club' was recorded on October 31 and November 1, 1964, at the "It" Club in Los Angeles, California. The album was produced by Teo Macero, and posthumously released on the Columbia Records label in 1982 as a 2LP set.
This is Monk's mid-60s quartet with Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on bass, and Ben Riley on drums at the absolute peak of their onstage chemistry. The interplay between Monk and Charlie Rouse stands out as a high point.
Monk sounded like a mid '60s jazz pianist in the '40s. In 1964, he was still ahead of the curve. 'Live at the It Club' is freewheeling, carefree, fun, and like all Monk, it's just so damn entertaining.
CD 1
1. Blue Monk
2. Well, You Needn't
3. 'Round Midnight
4. Rhythm-A-Ning
5. Blues Five Spot
6. Bemsha Swing
7. Evidence
8. Nutty / Epistrophy (Theme)
CD 2
1. Straight, No Chaser
2. Teo
3. I’m Getting Sentimental over You
4. Misterioso
5. Gallop’s Gallop
6. Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are
7. Bright Mississippi
8. Just You, Just Me
9. All the Things You Are / Epistrophy (Theme)
For the freeload, let's talk about artists/groups that not unlike Monk, were ahead of the curve.
In jazz, Bird charted the way forward from swing into bebop. In rock, Hendrix explored entirely new forms of electric guitar expression. Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, perhaps more than any others infused soul music with the emotional intensity of the Black church.
ReplyDeleteBy "ahead of the curve" most think "more famous after dead", right? In all my years of listening to and studying the art of music, I have yet to hear the music of the future. All artists draw from the past, even if their influences are masked.
ReplyDeleteGood evening everyone, i'm not very familiar with jazz, so actually not at all, but generally i would say that Velvet Underground, Mothers of Invention, Kraftwerk, Stooges, maybe Lou Reed's Berlin, and certainly a few others were ahead of their time. The Beatles? Beach Boys? What determines that? That something extraordinary was created? Then infinitely many were ahead of their time. Or is it personal taste? Have a nice evening. Best regards, Mike
ReplyDeleteBoth apauling & Bombshelter--may I call you Bombshelter?--strike a chord. I'm in over my head, but, chronologically, I think Robert Johnson was pretty close (I know, I know, but still), Bird was "a thing that's unique & new" (as it were), and Chuck Berry pretty damn close....I wanna say The Velvet Underground when Cale was still there (especially on viola & organ) and Sterling playing a li'l looser, but I'm not sure I can really convince myself of that.
ReplyDeleteI think Brian Eno was/is ahead of the curve. And those that have associated with and/or collaborated with him have felt a tinge of ahead of the curveness. Incorporating tape loops, ambient & world musics into many listenable projects throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteAlso very much looking forward to this freeload. As always, thanks Babs
Agree with mumbles 100%!
DeleteLooking forward to this Monk album, thanks Babs!
~Jon
ANON RF: Always amazed by the Hampton Grease Band from Atlanta, who seemed pretty brave and inventive for their time, whilst still rockin'. Could also shout out to The Fugs, United States Of America, The Godz (1966 version), Syd Barrett, and of course Capn Beefheart.
ReplyDeleteDjango Reinhardt was way ahead of his time. So much so, that you can listen to his recordings today, and absent the then recording technology, they sound modern and vibrant.
ReplyDeleteto answer that question, the composer gustav mahler immediately comes to mind... after all, he said 'my time will come'
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Louis Armstrong and Charlie Patton. Also, David Bowie always seemed to be one step ahead of current trends.
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some great calls here; I'll toss out one more. Joni Mitchell's tunings, which flummoxed me as a beginning guitar player and I've never really been able to get the hang in...but they're cool.
ReplyDeleteI imagine this will be something of a turd in the punch bowl to some, but to my ears Yoko Ono / Plastic One Band was years ahead of its time. Her music has drawn venom from most quarters for decades. The last set of comments I read seem to indicate that vitriol has softened a bit, with some even enthusiastic about this record. The band is on fire and fully engaged with Lennon’s work sounding more like Fred Frith improv than anything else I can think of. As abrasive as her music can be, her visual work is quite gentle, even inspirational. I s'poze one reason I fell in love with her was all the mean spirited poison darts hurled in her direction. Sometime I like a record that will clear a room. It's the few that stay that I'm interested in meeting.
ReplyDeleteThe hatred towards Yoko is mind boggling. For fans of avant-garde music, Yoko’s first husband, Toshi Ichiyanagi is worth exploring.
DeleteI'll throw in a word for Bing Crosby. When the microphone was invented in the mid twenties he developed a nuanced low key style that was a sharp contrast to those who were accustomed to shouting through megaphones and he maintained an interest in new technology throughout his life.
ReplyDeleteStockhausen's moment has not yet arrived.
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...but his Helicopter String Quartet arrived and departed:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helikopter-Streichquartett
~Jon
Zappa / Stravinsky / Bird
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