Monk's Poll: the compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk

there was a POX before but i couldn't find a poll. i excluded ones he only recorded once or twice or never or were probably written by someone else, some one-off solo improvisations, and others i arbitrarily decided were too minor or obscure for the poll. so apologies if i missed yours, shout it out below

i considered splitting it into blues and ballads but i wasn't sure what to do with half of them. i could go for most of these but i'm pretty sure music in general peaked with the ballads - ask me now, crepuscule, monk's mood, pannonica, reflections, round midnight, ruby - there are no words. of the faster tunes brilliant corners, epistrophy, straight no chaser, well you needn't are also tempting if predictable choices but there are so many other gems here from the best composer/improviser of all time

alternative titles: poll me now, let's poll one, poll you needn't, poll ain't got no wrong votes

First thought is In Walked Bud, the one I can most effortlessly hum in my head just from reading the title.

great poll idea! tempted to vote for brilliant corners because it’s so fucking insane

this is a fun read:

https://musicaficionado.blog/2018/01/08/brilliant-corners-by-thelonious-monk/amp/

"Ruby My Dear".
I think Monk is the earliest historical recording artist where I would call myself a real fan (as opposed to liking a few things here and there, or listening educationally).

"Bemsha Swing," because it's the one that pops into my head unbidden the most.

First thought is In Walked Bud, the one I can most effortlessly hum in my head just from reading the title.

Cyrille Aimee singing “Well You Needn’t” at Mezzrow right now.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Incredible turnout

you needn't carp

carpuscule with mookie

I would've voted for Ruby

Why didn’t you then?

Missed this - poll turnaround time was too short imo. Probably would vote Crepuscule

I dug out Monk's Dream and Brilliant Corners other day and was in heaven. They are totally obvious Monk albums like, but I played them so much about 8-9 years ago and have generally always picked other options when blasting out some Monk and had almost forgotten how perfect they are.

didn't see this at all smh, but would've voted "blue monk"

"Blue Monk" was my first reaction too. Then I thought it was too predictable. Then I realized there were 4 or 5 other great choices off the top of my head. Then I struggled over those too long. Then I didn't vote.

voted "monks dream" which is basic, but i just get so happy when i hear it bc it means im about to listen to the album monks dream

"blue monk" seems obvious but then nobody voted for it!

My favorite of his improv vehicles (Crepuscule is not really much of one) is Evidence.

i voted crepuscule but i don't object to any of the "winners"

however if i'd known the votes in advance i'd have given one to ruby to push at least something over the edge

This made me happy pic.twitter.com/2565HvU5su

— John Lurie (@lurie_john) October 12, 2022

It makes me want to here that Bob Florence album, but apparently its out of print, and was never issued on CD.

https://archive.org/details/lp_here-and-now-bold-swinging-big-band-ideas_bob-florence

Whoa! Thanks! I didn't know there was music on Internet Archive.

I confess I didn't know about the Unlocked Recordings section until I started snooping around a different site that directed me there. 21,404 items should keep me busy for a while.

Yeah, this looks like a pretty incredible trove of free music, conveniently available in different formats. I've been enjoying that Bob Florence album Monk liked.

yeah, the arrangement of "straight, no chaser" is really fun

There's a new Thelonious Monk documentary that will open theatrically this week - the documentary itself is actually supposed to be a really good film (a rarity when too many music documentaries feel like EPK's with the slick and paint-by-numbers aesthetic of a television program or TV commercial). A short description:

A wealth of never-before-seen footage offers a gripping and intimate portrait of Thelonious Monk in Paris, 1969. The legendary pianist and composer arrives for a TV interview before his evening concert, where he is met with racist, colonialist acts both large and small. Edited together by acclaimed Senegalese-French filmmaker Alain Gomis (Félicité) from the show’s rushes, a picture emerges of Monk’s battle to reject the racist stereotypes his interviewer projects onto him. Ending with Monk’s rhapsodic performance that night, Rewind and Play captures the struggle—and triumph—of one of the geniuses of 20th century music.

And his son, jazz artist T.S. Monk, will be at BAM to do a Q&A following this Friday's screening at 7 p.m. As of this posting, tickets are still available:

https://www.bam.org/film/2023/rewind-and-play

i posted about this in the jazz thread, btw

it's awesome but the interview parts are pretty stark and weird. but mostly it's color video of solo piano performances, which would be interesting enough if that's all it was. i mean, i'm just saying that it's much better than the art-world jargon makes it sound.

cool that T.S. will speak -- are you going? (i'm not in NYC)

Cool. I will have a ticket from MUBI GO come Friday. Maybe I will try to attend with our old friend forks.

Although I have doubts I can get into that particular screening unless he has extra pull.

I would go but I'm away through next week - I didn't even know it was opening at BAM until yesterday.

This film is not available in your area *sigh*

Damn, he wrote so many good tunes. Monk had bars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAz_t2Ybvmc

Monk is so god damn pure.
straight, no chaser, indeed!