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Monk's Music and the Guitar
Thelonious Monk
piano1917 - 1982
George Benson
guitarb.1943
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This exciting information came from my friend and mentor Paul Jeffrey—saxophonist, educator and Monk band member and close associate during the '70s. According to Paul, Monk also adored
Charlie Christian
guitar, electric1916 - 1942
There is the misconception by some in jazz that piano and guitar don't get along and have difficulty coexisting. I have never been one to think this because I grew up listening to
Wes Montgomery
guitar1923 - 1968
Wynton Kelly
piano1931 - 1971
Oscar Peterson
piano1925 - 2007
Joe Pass
guitar1929 - 1994
Herb Ellis
guitar1921 - 2010
Grant Green
guitar1935 - 1979
Sonny Clark
piano1931 - 1963
Pat Martino
guitar1944 - 2021
Gil Goldstein
piano
Nat King Cole
piano and vocals1919 - 1965
Oscar Moore
guitar1916 - 1981
Benny Green
pianob.1963
Russell Malone
guitar1963 - 2024
Brad Mehldau
pianob.1970
Peter Bernstein
guitarb.1967
Unfortunately, there are just a few recordings of Monk actually playing with a guitarist, most notably with none other than Charlie Christian in bootlegged recordings from jam sessions that happened at Minton's Playhouse in 1941 (also present there were
Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet1917 - 1993
Don Byas
saxophone, tenor1912 - 1972
Kenny Clarke
drums1914 - 1985
Getting the information about Monk's fondness for guitar players, while in the process of recording my latest, Plays for Monk (Origin), was the perfect incentive for me. Just before the trio's first rehearsal for the date, I still had questions about the idea of doing Monk's music: Would it come across as a natural fit for me, my style of jazz guitar and my trio's playing style? I really wasn't interested in focusing on the idiosyncrasies of Monk's playing style as a soloist—his off-kilter rhythmic, melodic and harmonic approach—but rather on the value of his compositions, which are already innately imbued with those 'Monkisms.' I had done the requisite work of weeding through his tunes to see which ones had the right sound for me, for my group and my guitar. (Although, regrettably, I missed his tune "Light Blue," which I didn't realize until too late. For me, that one contains the essence of Monk's harmonic irony, playfulness and mischief and it sounds great on the guitar.) What was most important to me in playing his material, though, was the natural, overall spirit of jazz in everything that Monk did and that's what I wanted to connect with and try to capture.
Technically speaking, there is the inherent issue of transference to a guitar focus when playing music that is associated with a piano voice as the lead. We're used to hearing it played on the instrument whose capabilities were available to Monk for his exploration and exploitation. Some of those 'isms,' like voicings containing dissonances (minor 2nds and clusters), would have to be pared down to meet the physical restrictions of the guitar with its limited number of strings and fret configuration. But with proper investigation, there are certainly ways to achieve the essence of a Monk voicing, even by using two or three notes.
Certain other distinctive characteristics of Monk's musical style are already written into his compositions, like the jagged rhythms in the melody of "Evidence" or "Work"'s sinewy, knuckle-busting lines. These technical challenges simply require study, work and practice. Just as a jazz student needs to learn and memorize every recorded phrase, note for note, that they want to assimilate, I had to do the same with Monk's melodies. There is no room for error and no relying on someone else's transcription. It's potentially dangerous to trust another's ears and/or rhythmic interpretation.
After dealing with these details in order to present an accurate and respectable portrayal of his works, I didn't feel the desire or need to enhance or alter my playing style to suggest anything else that may have occurred on any of Monk's records. And, actually, I took a few liberties with tempos and time and rhythmic feels in order to allow my group a springboard to realize our own exploration and interpretation of this music. This process felt natural, honest and fairly effortless as it was happening in the studio and was done not simply for the sake of doing it differently, but in following my own gut reactions to what his music was telling me to do for myself.
Tags
Bobby Broom
Megaphone
United States
New York
New York City
Thelonious Monk
george benson
Charlie Christian
Wes Montgomery
Wynton Kelly
oscar peterson
Joe Pass
Herb Ellis
Grant Green
Sonny Clark
Pat Martino
Gil Goldstein
Nat King Cole
Oscar Moore
Benny Green
Russell Malone
brad mehldau
Peter Bernstein
Dizzy Gillespie
Don Byas
Kenny Clarke
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