SwingJournal #9

April in Paris: April in Paris was composed by Vernon Duke in 1932 for the Broadway musical Walk A Little Faster. It is interesting to listen to the original melody. This piece begins with a quarter beat triplet followed by a strong quarter beat syncopation in the second bar. The first time I listened to the Count Basie Orchestra's version, I thought it was written in an odd meter. This figure is a trademark of this composition and you can hear at many different locations.

Monk also emphasizes this triplet and strong syncopation when he is playing rubato. He sometimes picks a tempo and expects us to listen to feel the beat, but as soon as he squeezes his fantastic fill in, he mixes us up and the rubato feeling returns again.

On the second chorus, he also plays a different variation of the melody. In both of the choruses he doesn't end in the tonic, which is the key of C, but he goes to a half step up; key of Db.

I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You: Similar to April in Paris, Monk plays only two choruses and both of the times he emphasizes the original melody line. He starts playing rubato and keeps playing fabulous fill ins. At the last A section on the first chorus, he gradually merges into the steady tempo by using a stride style. But he breaks down again to a rubato feel soon after.

He plays solo on the beginning of second chorus. He has a very unique style and it is interesting to hear a Solo Monk Standard album.

Functional : This composition is in the blues form and in the key of Bb. It is a medium slow tempo, and it is interesting to hear the combination of his left fingers and right fingers. He uses his left hand mostly to comp for himself, and also alters between bass notes and chord voicings. He sometimes plays solo by using only his left hand and immediately responds with the right hand playing arpeggios.

He also has a certain kind of left hand bass pattern which creates a floating atmosphere for the soloist, in this case the soloist is his right hand. Similar to Ahmad Jamal, he plays the rhythmic bass pattern with his own bassist in a way. Monk wants to have freedom and space for his right fingers.

In this style of his playing, I can see a bridge between many great stride players to bebop players. I believe that Monk is one of the the key pianists who can link James P. Johnson and Bud Powell and beyond.

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You : This song was composed by George Bassman who wrote for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with Frank Sinatra. There are at least four recordings by Tommy Dorsey and he often played this song in the key of D with or without Sinatra. Monk plays this piece in Eb and nowadays we assume this is the common standard key for "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You".

The interesting part about this song is there is a 4th extended tag at the end of each chorus. Therefore 8-8-8-12 within a form of AABA. After Monk plays the head-in melody, he plays the melody briefly on the 2nd chorus, he drops down the tempo way down and he takes the chorus out from the bridge.

I Should Care : At the beginning soon after he hits the bass note on his left hand, he plays the chord melody on the right hand. There is a crustier voicing on the top. He stumbles upon bass notes as if he is drunken and settles the first 4 bars. Then he switches to a very simple approach: Ke keeps changing the tempo and goes back and forth from rubato to back in tempo again. He creates this atmosphere wonderfully. He uses a trill effect toward the end. He plays only one chorus this piece.

'Round Midnight : This is the most famous of Monk's original compositions. My favorite part part is the famous intro and ending. He keeps making mistakes and the company released the whole recording and/or he is not satisfied about his recording. He stops in the middle of recording and does a whole new take. You can't listen to the famous intro on first few takes, but at take four, he finally plays it. There are more than six takes. The melody approach and solo-piano concept is very similar among all takes. The session is 22 min. It is quite long and if you are big fan of Thelonious Monk, you won't mind. He plays the famous ending on take six.

All Alone : This is Irving Berlin's composition and many singers such as Julie London, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan have covered it. Monk plays this tune in the key of F. On this composition, you will enjoy the church-influenced Monk's performance despite of Berlin's popular number. As if we walked into an African American church in the hood, he creates an atmosphere that he is playing for a very sacred reason.

Monk's Mood : Audio File

Download Sheet Music for Thelonious Monk's "Monk's Mood".

Solo Guitar Arrangement/Performance by Hideaki Tokunaga