Thelonious Monk PALO ALTO

Thelonious Monk 
Palo Alto
Impulse Records

Finally Unearthed! A Great Lost Jazz Recording With an Amazing Backstory.

“Hey man! This is Jazz!”
Historically I’ve dipped in and out of Jazz, eventually knowing which bits and pieces suit me, but thankfully my ‘bag man’ in that multi-faceted world knows my tastes and sent this ‘great lost album’ for my delectation.
Now, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard Thelonious Monk before; but obviously recognised the name (as it’s quite distinctive!) so would have given this album a listen anyways; but the story attached to the recording blew my mind, and is worthy of a Film (movie) ….. seriously.
“In the autumn of 1968, a sixteen-year-old boy named Danny Scher had a dream. He wanted to bring the renowned jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and his quartet to play a benefit concert at his high school in Palo Alto, California to raise funds for his school and to help bring about racial unity in his community.
Armed with little more than a telephone, posters, a persuasive pitch, an impressive knowledge of jazz and an iron-willed determination, Scher made the concert happen……. all for $500!“

Then of course, there’s the actual music.
The 47 minute set opens with the sublime Ruby My Dear; and apart from the breathtaking musicianship from the individual players; the first thing I noticed was the clarity of the production. Even allowing for 21st Century studio witchcraft cleaning up the tapes, the soundboard that night must have come from the Starship Enterprise.
As the night progresses the tunes (?) simply get ever more intricate and keep managing to astound my untutored ears; especially the way Monk appears to go in and out of the Classical end of the spectrum on Don’t Blame Me and Episotrophy; which manages to really swing too.
Obviously there isn’t just Monk on stage; and while he is undoubtedly the ‘Star’ ……….. but when tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse steps forward everything, especially on the sublime Blue Monk takes on a whole new dimension; and his additions to Well You Needn’t certainly deserve a mention in despatches too, as do bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley who get to showcase their skills in the spotlight there too.
As this is all new to me choosing a Favourite Track out of these six is nigh on impossible as each is truly amazing (to me); but the finale, which finds Monk alone at the piano; I Love You Sweetheart (of All My Dreams) is spine tingling, and therefore wins the accolade (today).
With Jazz artists in general, and from what I’ve learnt of Thelonious Monk, they change direction so often and on a whim, plus improvise so much tunes are often unrecognisable from their original versions Compilations and Best Of’s are a waste of time and money; so perhaps this will be the only work of his that I ever own.

Released 18th September 2020
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