Monk Turns Ellington Inside Out
Monk takes Duke's songbook and bends it into his own angular shape, piano first.
Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington puts Monk at the piano with a tight, swinging rhythm section, and the sound is lean and percussive. His touch is hard and deliberate, with those jabbing, spaced-out chords that can make a familiar melody feel like it has been rearranged on the spot. The tempos sit comfortably in the middle, nothing frantic, and the mood is playful rather than solemn.
The repertoire is Ellington, and Monk treats these tunes as raw material rather than sacred objects. He keeps the melodies recognizable but drops the harmonies into his own angular world, with unexpected silences and sudden turns that Ellington himself never wrote. Percy Heath anchors the low end steadily, and Art Blakey drives the pulse with crisp, forward energy, giving Monk a solid floor to play against.
If you already know Monk, this fits neatly alongside his Riverside work of the mid-1950s, a sharp, playful stretch before his most famous later records. It is not his most essential starting point, but it is a good listen for anyone who wants to hear him interpreting someone else's songs. Sean Murphy of PopMatters called it "an outstanding album" when it was reissued in 2007, and described it as an overlooked gem in Monk's discography.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Thelonious Monk
Brilliant Corners 1957
Genius of Modern Music, Volume 1 1951
Monk's Dream 1963
Mulligan Meets Monk 1957
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
