1991 · Album
Dreaming of the Masters, Volume 2: Thelonious Sphere Monk
Recorded 1990 · DIW Records · Produced by Kazunari Tsujii
Talking to Monk Through the Ensemble's Eyes
The Art Ensemble doesn't try to sound like Monk—they sound like themselves studying him.
The Art Ensemble of Chicago came to Thelonious Sphere Monk's music the way they approached everything: as a conversation across time, filtering a master's vision through their own restless creativity. This second volume of Monk reinterpretations finds the ensemble deeper into the work, less concerned with fidelity and more interested in what Monk's angular harmonies and rhythmic disruptions can become when pushed through their expansive approach. They stretch his compositions into strange new shapes, layering textures that Monk himself never recorded but which feel entirely consistent with his philosophy—that jazz is about finding the spaces between the notes and making them sing.
What makes this record distinctive is how the ensemble treats Monk's compositions as jumping-off points rather than fixed blueprints. They honor his compositional architecture while abandoning any pretense of recreating his specific sound. The ensemble's interest in extended techniques, prepared instruments, and textural exploration transforms these pieces into something almost unfamiliar, yet unmistakably rooted in Monk's strange harmonic universe. You'll hear why they came back to Monk twice—his music has an inexhaustible quality, offering enough structural freedom for an ensemble this adventurous to genuinely explore rather than merely interpret.
This isn't essential for casual listeners getting to know the Art Ensemble. Start instead with their earlier works to understand their foundation. But if you've already spent time with the ensemble and want to hear how they engage with jazz history, this volume reveals something genuine about their method: they didn't worship masters so much as learn from them by asking "what happens if we do this?" That question-and-answer approach defines their work here.
Who's playing
Lester Bowieperformer
Malachi Favorsperformer
Joseph Jarmanperformer
Roscoe Mitchellperformer
Famoudou Don Moyeperformer
Cecil Taylorperformer
Where next?
More by Art Ensemble of Chicago
All 49 albums →
The musicians on this record
♫
LOOKING (Berlin Version) CORONA 1990
Cecil Taylor
plays performer here
plays performer here
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After Fallen Leaves 1992
Roscoe Mitchell
plays performer here
plays performer here
All the Magic! 1983
Lester Bowie
plays performer here
plays performer here
Earth Passage - Density 1981
Joseph Jarman
plays performer here
plays performer here
