Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall - Thelonious Monk/John Coltrane

Apr

30

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall - Thelonious Monk/John Coltrane

≡ Category: 1950s, Essential, Hard Bop, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

First off, let’s get one thing out of the way. There’s no denying the historical importance of Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall. Until now, the only available recordings of Monk’s quartet with Coltrane were three tunes on Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: Ruby, My Dear; Nutty; and Trinkle Tinkle. On the other hand, Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall gives us 51 minutes of new performances of eight compositions by the band, only repeating Nutty from the famous Five Spot date.

The thing is, I don’t really care all that much about historical importance. What matters to me is how good the music is. A clue is given by comparing the newly available performance of Nutty on At Carnegie Hall with the old one. In terms of quality, it’s not even close.

Back when the quartet recorded Nutty the first time, Coltrane and Monk’s inspiration was white-hot. These guys were just working out the tunes, especially Coltrane. You can feel their excitement. On At Carnegie Hall, these guys were playing to a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies at Carnegie Hall, not for dyed-in-the-wool jazz freaks at The Five Spot. This is more of a professional working gig. These guys are not making discoveries on the bandstand. They’re making their discoveries more accessible to a mainstream audience.

Another shortcoming of the Carnegie Hall recordings is that Ahmed Abdul-Malik just isn’t as good a bassist as Wilbur Ware. He’s fine, but he’s not as hyperaware of Monk’s rhythmic world as Ware was. Listen to Ware’s solo on Trinkle Tinkle on the Five Spot date if you don’t believe me. In other words, don’t get rid of your copy of Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane — you still need it.

Still, we’re talking about Monk and Coltrane. Both men were in terrific shape as instrumentalists, even if they were playing for a less than optimum audience. It’s instructive to hear them work through great tunes like Evidence, Epistrophy, and Bye-Ya. Coltrane’s fluency and instant responsiveness to Monk’s direction gives these tunes new life — this is the way they were meant to be played.

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall gives us one last chance to hear Monk’s best group in action, which is not something you want to pass up.