The Jazz

Artist: Thelonious Monk

Album: Solo Monk

I know very little about Jazz. One thing I know is how much I love it. I wish I understood music and music theory well enough to interpret jazz on a musical level; one beyond the personal enjoyment I get from throwing on a jazz record early Sunday morning and going about my unimportant business. There's a science behind jazz that's so effectively hidden by the emotion that creates it, it seems to be both and neither simultaneously. The second record I ever bought on vinyl was Kind Of Blue. I knew as little about jazz then as I do now, but one thing I've learned along the way is to appreciate each individual instrument that's involved in a composition. After seeing a few live jazz sets in Boston, it became easier to hear individual instruments on my records. I slowly became used to the interplay between bass, sax, piano, and drums. And what was once a mass of sound suddenly became a collection of individual talents--a musical dialogue I was lucky enough to overhear. I went on to enjoy the obvious classics. Coltrane, Ellington, Rollins, Getz, Green, Pastorius--I started listening to all of them, all the while being painfully aware of my general ignorance about the genre. I'm sure many people have experienced a similar feeling. You find yourself listening to something, watching something, experiencing something you know is complex and brilliant, and the only thing saving you from your own ignorance is the fact that you know you aren't grasping the genius behind it. You're only receiving its complexity made simple.

I stumbled across Thelonious Monk one day at the record story. Piano music, eh? I like the piano. I like Jazz. Shit, this is a no brainer. I picked up a couple of his records and brought them home. I have to say, of all the jazz records I have, and for all the time I spent learning to differentiate between the various instruments, Solo Monk continues to be one of the most enjoyable records to listen to. It's just Monk and the piano. It's amazing what he's able to do on his own. As I was telling a friend, there's something playful, something whimsical and jolly about the songs. It's not that they make me want to dance--not quite--but they sure as hell make me feel like being in a room where I can watch other people dance. It's a wonderful record that's absolutely worth checking out. I hope you enjoy it on a Sunday morning--or any day of the week.