Underground (Thelonious Monk album)

Underground
Studio album by Thelonious Monk
Released 1968
Recorded December 14 and 21, 1967; February 14, 1968
Genre Jazz
Length 37:23 (1:11:04 on Special Edition)
Label Columbia
Producer Teo Macero
Thelonious Monk chronology
Straight, No Chaser
(1967)Straight, No Chaser1967		 Underground
(1967)		 Monk's Blues
(1968)Monk's Blues1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]

Underground is a 1968 album by American jazz musician Thelonious Monk. It features Monk on piano, Larry Gales on bass, Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, and Ben Riley on drums.

The album is widely known for its provocative cover image, which depicts Monk as a fictitious French Resistance fighter in the Second World War. It contains a number of new Monk compositions, some of which appear in recorded form only on this album. This is the last Monk album featuring the Thelonious Monk Quartet, and the last featuring Charlie Rouse (who appears on only half the tracks, having missed a recording session to attend his father's funeral).

Music

"Ugly Beauty" is the only waltz among Thelonious Monk's recorded compositions.

"Boo Boo's Birthday" and "Green Chimneys" are named after Monk's daughter Barbara, Boo Boo being her nickname, and Green Chimneys being the name of the school she attended.

"In Walked Bud", first recorded in 1947, is based on the chord progression of "Blue Skies". Jazz vocalese artist Jon Hendricks appears on this track, adding lyrics to the song's melody.

Track listing (later CD issue)

All songs composed by Thelonious Monk unless otherwise noted.

  1. "Thelonious" – 3:13
  2. "Ugly Beauty" – 3:17
  3. "Raise Four" – 5:47
  4. "Boo Boo's Birthday" – 5:56
  5. "Easy Street" (Alan Rankin Jones) – 5:53
  6. "Green Chimneys" – 9:00
  7. "In Walked Bud" (Jon Hendricks, Monk) – 4:17

Track listing (Special Edition)

  1. "Thelonious" – 3:16
  2. "Ugly Beauty" – 10:45
  3. "Raise Four" – 7:00
  4. "Boo Boo's Birthday (Take 11)" – 5:55
  5. "Easy Street" – 7:50
  6. "Green Chimneys" – 13:09
  7. "In Walked Bud" – 6:48
  8. "Ugly Beauty (Take 4)" – 7:37
  9. "Boo Boo's Birthday (Take 2)" – 5:34
  10. "Thelonious (Take 3)" – 3:10

Personnel

Musicians

  • Thelonious Monk – piano
  • Charlie Rouse – tenor saxophone
  • Larry Gales – bass
  • Ben Riley – drums
  • Jon Hendricks – vocals on "In Walked Bud"

Production

  • Teo Macero – production
  • Tim Geelan – engineering
  • Horn Grinner Studios – photography
  • John Berg, Richard Mantel – art direction

References

  1. ↑ Planer, Lindsay. Underground at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 145. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.