[Today: The other side of life...]
This might come as a surprise to regular readers of this space, but I have other interests besides music. I’ve read a book or two and done some volunteer work for the local SPCA. I enjoy sports and have been known to shoot the rock on the basketball court. I love my wife, and I have a number of friends I deeply admire. And lately I’ve become a political junkie – endlessly reading papers and blogs, watching all the debates from start to finish, and generally keeping up with the developments of the presidential campaign, which (oh, by the way) has become inextricably tied to the tanking US and world economies. The bitter, angry tone of the ongoing campaign is alarming, and the daily financial news is staggering, to say the least.
Sometimes music feels like an extravagance, a diversion that doesn’t work because I know it’s merely a diversion (Republicans take note). Last night I stood and stared at my record collection for a long time, trying to decide if I was even up for a listen. I found a sound in my head – a sad, lonely horn – and went looking through my collection for it. What I ended up with was Thelonious Himself. Not a horn, I’ll admit, but the tone was just what the doctor ordered.
Monk kind of staggers around on his piano in a way that doesn’t immediately make sense to the ears. He connects the dots within a tune in unlikely ways, using what he called “the notes between the notes, the blue notes.” On Thelonious Himself, those blue notes are left to fend for themselves, as there’s no band playing keep up with Monk. These songs are down to a single, eccentric genius, picking out notes in the wilderness and trying to find his way home to the melody. He always seems to arrive in the nick of time, just before the tune collapses. The solitary, stark brilliance of Thelonious Himself makes it the ideal record for those evenings when you’re not in the mood for music, or much of anything else.
Listen: I Should Care
Tags: Jazz, Thelonious Himself, Thelonious Monk
2 August 2009 at 4:26 pm |
I completely agree with you. The first chords of “I should care” cut through my soul everytime i hear them. Monk’s music appeals to a deeper level than everyday “normal” music. As great as any of the more recognized geniuses like Mozart, Bach or Beethoven.