Thelonious Monk was undoubtedly among the geniuses of jazz and music in general. He left us many tubes that are now considered standards, “Straight, No Chaser” being on of those. Monk first recorded the composition on July 23, 1951, with a quintet featuring Sahib Shihab on alto sax, Milt Jackson on vibes, Al McKibbon on bass, and Art Blakey on drums, for the Monk's ‘Blue Note Sessions’ in 1951. It is a 12-bar blues in B♭ which, like one of his other B♭ blues, "Blue Monk", makes creative use of chromatics in the melody. Thomas Owens in his book ‘Bebop: The Music and Its Players’ says: “But for all their formal simplicity, Monk’s meticulously crafted pieces typically contain one or more surprises for the unwary player.”
Thelonious Monk is not surprisingly the definitive interpreter of his own “Straight No Chaser.” His original 1951 recording (Genius of Modern Music 2) was a visionary moment that still sounds wonderful, while his 1967 recording (Straight No Chaser) offers a stellar example of his longtime 1960s quartet. The first person to “cover” the song was Miles Davis in 1958 (Milestones) and that performance, also featuring great solos by Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Red Garland and Paul Chambers, still stands as the most influential re-interpretation of the song. Adderley solos admirably on alto saxophone, but tenor saxophonist John Coltrane steals the show with an incredible double-time solo.
‘Straight, No Chaser’ is a typical Monk song. His music is so perfectly structured and concise that it hardly withstands tampering. The nature of his compositional style is best described with the words of Laurent De Wilde who described Monk’s music with the following imagery: “Monk’s music can neither be classified nor assimilated. Not because it is revolutionary, which isn’t a reason in itself, but because it’s like a rock thrown into a pond which immediately sinks and disappears. You watch it going down, and you don’t know whether to keep your eye on the sinking mass or to contemplate the concentric ripples of the tremors.”
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JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.12 - CARAVAN
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.11 - TAKE THE 'A' TRAIN
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.10 - LAURA
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.9 - STELLA BY STARLIGHT
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.8 - ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.7 - SUMMERTIME
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.6 - NANCY (WITH A LAUGHING FACE)
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.5 - MY FUNNY VALENTINE
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.4 - AUTUMN LEAVES
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.3 - 'ROUND MIDNIGHT
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.2 - BODY AND SOUL
JAZZ STANDARDS VOL.1 - YOU GO TO MY HEAD
