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Thelonious Monk: Newport '59

By Mark Corroto
August 6, 2013
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Only with hindsight can it be ascertained that 1959 marked the pinnacle of jazz music as a cultural force in the United States. In 1959, the Mount Rushmore presidents of jazz were recording their definitive statements:

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1960),

Dave Brubeck

piano
1920 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Brubeck's Time Out (Columbia, 1959),

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus' Ah Um (Columbia, 1959),

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue (Columbia, 1959) and

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman's The Shape Of Jazz To Come (Atlantic, 1959).

That year also signaled the upcoming split of allegiances for the post-World War II generations between jazz and the baby boomers' rock 'n' roll. At the center of this massive year was

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk, a pianist at the zenith of his career. He had been championed by Alfred Lion on his small Blue Note Records label in the early 1940s, then recorded for Prestige and Riverside Records. This year included his famous Town Hall concert, a 10-piece presentation of his compositions and the pianist's partnership with saxophonist

Charlie Rouse

saxophone, tenor
1924 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Rouse, which lasted for nearly sixteen years. Soon he would be signed to the behemoth Columbia Records and appear on the cover of Time Magazine. However, it can be argued, all of this served as a postscript to his musical masterwork.

Although pieces of this performance have been floating around as bootlegs, hearing Monk in full flight at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1959, playing the now-familiar tunes, is a rediscovery of his genius. This release, part of a Wolfgang's Vault presentation of 300 classic Newport concerts (1955-1975), comes as a digital download or in a limited edition 180 gram vinyl edition. In quartet with Rouse, bassist

Sam Jones

bass, acoustic
1924 - 1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Sam Jones and drummer

Art Taylor

drums
1929 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Taylor, the pianist delivers a rousing performance described by Dan Morgenstern as "the greatest performance I have heard him give" and "the most moving experience of the festival."

With Monk dressed in a blue fedora, the band opens with the skip, hop and thunk of "In Walked Bud," Monk's tribute to his friend

Bud Powell

piano
1924 - 1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Bud Powell. Rouse takes center stage here, smoothing out the serrated edges of Monk's piano, with the pianist satisfied to accompany before taking (for him) a quite relaxed solo, quoting songs from his oeuvre. "Blue Monk," an oft-called blues-blowing vehicle, features more of Rouse's yang to Monk's ying. Taylor's muscled drumming is a constant thrust here, and Jones walks the blues walk as the piece turns the outside venue into a very dark and smoky basement club. Monk's solo translates the blues into his personal dialect of sidelong melody.

Side two (it is an LP) opens with a perfect gem, "Crepuscule with Nellie." Monk delivers an entire life's work in just two-and-a-half minutes. It is a taste of what he and Rouse would bandy about over the next decade. "Well You Needn't" gets tossed back and forth between the players, while "Rhythm-a-ning" swings hard, with Taylor's bold drumming balanced by Rouse's calm delivery. Monk comps by punching his percussive chords behind Rouse. When he solos (his tapping foot can be heard), his internal logic transforms into the musical language that was once such a strange trip but is now so familiar.

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Track Listing

Introduction; In Walked Bud; Blue Monk; Crepuscule with Nellie; Well You Needn't; Rhythm-a-ning.

Personnel

Thelonious Monk

piano

Thelonious Monk: piano; Charlie Rouse: tenor saxophone; Sam Jones: bass; Arthur Taylor: drums.

Album information

Title: Newport '59 | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Concert Vault

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