Compositionally, however, it marked time. Monk's horns-rich arrangements, and the quality of the soloists to hand, has made Monk's Music a well-loved and important part of Monk's canon. Happily, a second session on June 26 went resoundingly well, producing the other eight tracks which make up the Remasters discwhich also includes, in the 00:55 minute opener, "Abide With Me," a second Monkless item, this one arranged by Monk for the horns only, as a curtain-raiser to the album proper. (The alternate takes of "Off Minor" and "Crepuscule With Nellie" have long been included on reissues of Monk's Music). "Blues For Tomorrow" was not included on the original Monk's Music, and was first released on a Riverside various artists compilation. Producer Orrin Keepnews, desperate to salvage some releasable music from the date, asked the remaining sextet to record a blues, which was quickly put together by alto saxophonist Gigi Gryce. Between the two of you, you should be able to find it." Eventually, towards the due end of the session, Monk threw in the towel and went home. The band had difficulty following Monk's directions, leading Monk to exclaim to tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane, "You're the great Coleman Hawkins, right? You're the guy who invented the tenor saxophone, right? Your'e the great John Coltrane, right? Well, the music is in the horn. Drummer Art Blakey arrived an hour late and then had to assemble and mic up his kit. Monk, unusually, arrived on time, but was distracted with worry about his wife, Nellie, who was in hospital. The track was recorded on June 25, 1957, in the closing minutes of an otherwise unproductive session. The label's 2011 Remasters edition of pianist Thelonious Monk's Monk's Music (Riverside, 1957) is no exceptionbut is something of a first, in that "Blues For Tomorrow," the 13:33 minute bonus track, does not include a single note from the leader.
THELONIOUS MONK MUSIC ANALYSIS SERIES
When we move into the “contrasting section”, or the first eight measures of the B section without the main motive, there is always a note on the downbeat, and beat two is often deemphasized creating an odd juxtaposition between the two sections.Many albums in the Original Jazz Classics reissue series include alternate takes or tracks recorded for, but ultimately not included on, the original vinyl LP. when the main motive that i mentioned earlier enters, it is always on the second beat of the measure following a quarter note rest. It is also interesting to note that a main theme of this piece is a strong accent on beat 2. It also creates the feeling of acceleration because changes are beginning to happen faster even though the tempo is remaining the same. Then, during the last eight measures the motive returns giving the listener the feeling of familiarity, like the piece is about to return to what we’ve heard before. It also helps that the melody is in eighth and quarter notes instead of sixteenth notes, and they all fall on the beat. This gives the listener the feeling of one long continuous phrase because you no longer have the point of reference. Then, during the B section, there are eight measures without the motive that I mentioned. In the first eight measures, we get short two bar phrases with the main motive beginning each phrase. It is interesting to note how the length of each phrase changes throughout the piece. I hear this motive as beginning each phrase. This is the first motive we hear in the melody after the brief intro. The main motive of this piece is an ascending run of four sixteenth notes followed by a dotted quarter note. This creates an interesting chromatic effect and, for a moment, this half step motion can trick the listener by implying a different key before sliding down. Monk uses B7 as somewhat of a predominant or upper neighbor note and then moves down a half step to B flat 7. There is nothing out of the ordinary about moving to the dominant and then the tonic, however, the way in which Monk moves to the B flat is slightly unusual. When the first 8 bars repeat, the second ending resolves to the tonic. The piece begins on the tonic and moves towards the dominant (B flat major) during the first ending. This piece is written in the key of E flat minor which is a very odd key to begin with being that it has 6 flats in the key signature. The overall form could be viewed as being 8 + 8+ 16 or A A’ B. The main form of this piece is characterized by an 8 bar repeating phrase with first and second endings followed by a 16 bar B section. The piece begins with a four bar improvised intro over the chords of the first four measures. This piece is a standard slow ballad in the key of E flat minor. The first piece of music which I will analyze is “Round Midnight” by Thelonious Monk as recorded by the Miles Davis Quintet
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