Thelonious Monk, Solo Monk

By the time Thelonious Monk signed with Columbia in the mid '60s, he had stopped writing new material and was in the process of developing what might be called his canon, the pool from which he would pick material for subsequent recordings and performances. He was also paying more conscious attention to his technique, although some people argue that his seemingly clumsy attack on earlier recordings was actually intentional, part of the search. It's notable, too, that this canon was not just comprised of his own material, and only a few of the tunes included here are Monk originals. His inclusion of standards like “I Surrender, Dear,” “Dinah” and “These Foolish Things” underline the fact that, for all of his being associated with the bebop revolution and the subsequent revolution in jazz, he was just as arguably the last of the New York stride pianists, in a direct line with Fats Waller and James P. Johnson. The more radical side of his own composing is also put aside for more approachable numbers as “Ruby, My Dear,” “Ask Me Now” and “Monk's Point.” But solo playing lets us listen much closer to his thinking, and although he's fairly calm throughout this recital, that only makes it an easy place to start listening to one of jazz's most idiosyncratic voices.