Thelonious Monk - Off Minor - 1963

[Streamline09]

Besides loving this music, I also dig the Frank Gehry-type sculpture on the wall!

[SPANNES2008]

monk kickt die lines^^

[jimikalimba]

This is one of y favorite Monk tunes Thanks Man. Monk Rules!!!

[chronwell1]

Monk and Rouse were amazing! Happy Bornday Master Teacher.

[rillloudmother]

how can Rouse be such a bad ass?

[MikeStrehle]

Thelo is out of conrto , in this video

[angrygrunt]

bass drum is too loud, bass is too quiet, drums are too quiet

[uttermeamumble]

I don't usually speak out against dislikes but really.... why would some one dislike this???

[Yirmes]

@uttermeamumble Well, we have to face that awful fact : it takes all sorts to make a world, now you have to be open-minded to people who listen exclusively to rap or shitty pop, tho they don't care about real talent. The Monk ain't give a damn anyways !!! :D

[Grafschnitzel]

Don't shoot the piano player!

Coming to think of it...

Don't shoot any of them!

[Chezmat1]

monk is probably the most unique jazz player ever

[dizyootum]

Why is this guy so damn good peace to the lord thelonious monk

[CEMF100]

This is gorgeous. I love it. This is perfect, every note where it should be.Wow.

[SinSeared]

how can this be considered as music? It's a jumbled freestyle of mostly off tune notes.

[treefingers68]

@SinSeared dude its a piano how can it be out of tune

[SinSeared]

@treefingers68

Pianos can get out of tune. I didn't even mean it in that sense though.

[Bugera369]

@treefingers68 Same way any stringed instrument gets out of tune.

[edcerc]

@SinSeared well besides for the fact that they follow a strict form that tells them what chords happen when, they all happen to be musicians of the highest caliber. What your saying is out of tune is actually their enhanced sense of harmony that allows them to express more complex and beatiful emotions that you might not have developed an ear for yet. If you can find better music than you might be a genius yourself.

[edcerc]

@SinSeared well besides for the fact that they follow a strict form that tells them what chords happen when, they all happen to be musicians of the highest caliber. What your saying is out of tune is actually their enhanced sense of harmony that allows them to express more complex and beatiful emotions that you might not have developed an ear for yet. If you can find better music than this you might be a genius yourself.

[saxmachine985]

@SinSeared notes out of tune? they doesnt exist... on every chord you can play all the notes you want, they all have a teoric giustification...

[joshlawrencejazz]

Great tune! Brilliant Corners has an awesome recording of this.

[JazzyZenBrotha]

Excellent stuff!! I love Monk!

[A1MaxJones]

Does anyone just have the notes on personnel and place? Thanks

[JHighland1]

Great tune

[tcoreyb]

Monk was unique, truly unclassifiable. Although he was technically from the bop world, his playing is so off-the-wall and playful, and he has such a sense of humor and bizarreness.

I would rank him probably 4th or 3rd on my jazz list of all time, just under Coltrane, Bird and Davis.

[djjjamin]

Dude i jus looove that monk is an artist in evry sense of the word. On top of being an amazing pianist he's a visual icon. He even goes so far as to not even cut his fingernails!!! Everything about him has a distinct style I feel. I jus wanna sit down w him and talk about how he sees the world. Too bad he's dead.

[Doleafol]

What kind of "cubist" background is that? I don't know, but it looks great.

[DailyBrusher]

Funny thing about the elbow - it seemed rather precise, just which keys he hit! Knowing Monk, maybe he would hit more keys with his elbow than his fingers or something!

[jazzowyalchemik]

Monk avantguarde? Mingus master of free-jazz? don You even know what are You talking about?

[oOJimmySueOo]

@jazzowyalchemik yeah that doesn't sound right at all. Mingus accepted some elements of free-jazz to keep his playing contemporary but he usually had great distaste for free jazz. Monk isn't avant-garde. He's Monk, and there ain't no other Monk. Sometimes I think he's more bop than Bird and Powell combined

[dgolden99]

@oOJimmySueOo They broke the mold before they made him, that's for sure. He tickles places in my brain I never knew I had.

[blackvitruvianman]

ALL WAYS MONK!!

[Liviolamonea]

Man, what a solo!

[chamane222]

TOUT SIMPLEMENT MERVEILLEUX QUE MONK TELLEMENT VRAI INCONTOURNABLE DÉMESURÉ IL FAUT ÉCOUTER CHAQUE NOTE AVEC DÉLICE ET JOIE....

[jay7arthur]

ahhh the ridiculous hat

[TheSkoobey]

the weather outside is frightful

[SuperMe4lyfe]

This is my favorite song from Monk. Too bad Jazz ain't common among the youth as it should be along with all music genres

[teodordebry]

4:31 :-).

[IncaRoad01]

Listen to Cedar Walton's version ... totally different, but very groovy.

[A1MaxJones]

A great take on Monk's work is available under the name Carmen sings Monk. Lyrics by jon Hendrix and Carmen. Carmen McRae w/ Frank Foster, sax & arrangements. . '91.

[TCTSNBN]

@A1MaxJones Yes, that Carmen McRae albumn is off the hook. The lyrics and voice to "Well, You Needn't" are especially excellent. On this video the theme Monk picks up at about 3:25 is so sweet. Go, Monk, Go!

[edcerc]

there's no way to play jazz hipper than this.

[JalapenoJr]

lool

FALCON ELBOW!

[avq5]

it's all about the forearm

[zachrhea1]

Dunlop definitely has some big band still in him. All that stick twirling, big ride arm movements, and that super heavy right foot, but the man can swing hard so it's forgivable.

[ndodro]

@zachrhea1 No man, take care! That is playing, he can whirl all he can because he knows Monks music, his super heavy right foot fits into the music as Art Blakey's did. He does deserve to be admired, not forgiven. Pardon the rant, but maybe a big band is implied in this fantastic quartet performance.

[TRUTHWILLMANIFEST]

Great to see Monk and Charlie Rouse together on film considering, I was not able to see thm live because I was not born yet. Thanks for sharing this great masterpiece! PeacE!

[BuckshotLaFunke]

Dull studio sound, muffling all overtones.

[leftofcenter4]

@BuckshotLaFunke

love the sound of this cut.. so classic late 50's early 60's jazz b movie scene

[Vesters1]

This is how jazz was meant to be! Experimental, creative and complex! Not the idealess and boring free jazz shit of Miles Davis....

[Palves]

@Vesters1 Miles Davis was definitely not free nor idealess. Different vibes on both masters, each unique and original in their own worlds. Miles and Monk both came from the bop tradition and created from there their sounds, incredibly rich and personal, but both complex, creative and experimental. If you want to know what's free jazz check out some eric dolphy or coltrane or ornette coleman records,

[midifromhell]

@Vesters1 Are you Serious?

I hope you at least realize though that the "free jazz of Miles Davis" is only about 1/10th of Miles Davis' output.

Also, that he made one of the finest recording of 'Round Midnight there is.

[Vesters1]

@midifromhell i don't respect Miles Davis as a componist. I like for example Pharaoh's Dance from Bitches Brew but that was written by Zawinul i found out. Kind of Blue is unstimulating, elevator music indeed. Feel free to call me an asshole but i've never heard any Miles Davis i really liked. I'm mostly into the avant-garde Sun Ra, Monk and that stuff, i also have a complicated relationship with free jazz masters like Mingus and Coleman. They're mostly deconstructing music, i think.

[iamgregdojo]

@Vesters1 what is a componist?

[Vesters1]

@iamgregdojo oh i'm sorry, i'm from denmark and we're saying "komponist" - meant "composer", my bad.

[Vesters1]

@midifromhell but if you mean i'm missing the point, please link some Davis stuff you like. 

[midifromhell]

@Vesters1 Well, if you didn't like Kind of Blue, I don't really have much to say to you. Except it wasn't "idealess" no matter how you spin it.

Maybe I could point out that Bitches Brew wasn't as much about the compositions as it was about the concepts and the resulting improvisations, along with the very special line-up, all of which were Miles' ideas.

[opertain]

hahahaha! So incredible! Like a music einstien!

[MrIlvis]

4:30 :D : D

[fess04]

Unbelievable......no words



[vectortemple]

Always one of my favorite Monk compositions - on Thelonious Monk at Town Hall it is done with a full ensemble - 10 or 12 piece - beautiful MONK music.

[tanvo93]

gatta love the weird timings before the solo...it 100 percent reminds me of this part in Gojira-The Link like 45 seconds in

[HJ9111]

In the evenings I take a bath and relax.....I put this on....To Monk or not to Monk....this is the question.....I definately....MONK!!!!!....~He­idi Elizabeth

[TCTSNBN]

Check out Monk's elbow shot at 4:31

[TheScienceguy77]

Personally although I do prefer indie/alt rock I aslo love jazz and I think it has to be one of the most underrated genres out there.Espeacially when compared to the crap put out by the mainstream media. Disney crap and little wannabe gangsters is NOT good music it's just noise that kids listen to because thier friends like it.

[sk8ter3699]

deffentally my brothers a victum of crap gangster music because his friends like it. lol

for them its for the money

not for the expression

[herrmannator101]

So many Disney Jazz tunes, In my opinion.. that's the beauty of it.

[tanvo93]

@TheScienceguy77 yea dude and gay metalcore deathcore posers..some bands are good but the majority are so trendy and stick inside the box..but than talented musicians from bands like cynic and death are un recognized.progressive bands

[tracehazarrrrd]

@tanvo93 Death's Symbolic was probably the best album released in the 90's, great album.

[tiki2188]

@tracehazarrrrd

Agreed. Not sure what led to led that comment here lol but 100% agreed!

[tracehazarrrrd]

@tiki2188 just glad to see a common death fan. saw ur comment and couldn't help it.

[blacktopaz8]

cool hat!

[Toojdwin]

Yeah, Rouse is way underappreciated.

[gregoryisme23]

I love the precision forearm at 4:30

[nearenough3]

The forearm represents a "cluster" chord (fists, slaps, etc.) and are well known in the classical genre. I can cite Henry Cowell but there are others. Victor Borge may have done a "rear ender."

[jazzmunky]

THat is a GREAT backdrop of sixties modernist shapes!!!!!!

[daSaboriGuitars]

I dig this tune...

[saxjunky1]

Bravo Charlie Rouse gran sassofonista

[IdIdU69]

is the drummer playing with two ride's ?

[Gretsche87]

Nah, the cymbal on his left looks to be about an 18" crash - can ride on it though.

[dbeckster]

Hah, good one...

[jdubya181]

BAH not Count Basie...Duke Ellington. durp. thats what you get for posting @ 5:30am

[jdubya181]

when he "plinks" it's reminiscent count basie...but his chords are so much more rich and full. Not to mention he's a rythmic master

[msawbe]

1st time I ever heard Monk's playing' it made think of Duke Ellington. I've been listening 2 Duke since I was knee high. Its kinda like Monk took Duke's thing' took it to the "farside" and made it whole tone. And he did it wearing cool sunglasses and funny hats.

[3000mhzps]

bugger jamiroquai, monks the original hat man! and 90843509 times better, too

[Eyzebian]

@3000mhzps or OSHO.

[Shizzmonger]

@3000mhzps Why are you bringing Jamiroquai into this? Because they both wear hats? What?!

[3000mhzps]

@Shizzmonger - i wasnt the first

[Shizzmonger]

@3000mhzps my bad dude. i must have been really pissed that day.

[aarfeld]

@3000mhzps: That's right. Monk was the originator of the beret craze which eventually swept to popularity among the Beats. Monk was wearing his long before Dizzy--starting in the early '40s as a gesture of solidarity with occupied France. Of his many hats that was probably his most influential as a fashion adopted by others.

[alcoholya]

@aarfeld big deal I wearing mine in 1806 muthafuckaaaasssss

[Ollyisking]

lovin the arm chord at 4:30

[askthemailman]

its whats before it and after that make it it

[chulk607]

there are actually forty eight modes, if you pardon the anti gravity section, what you are hearing here is liquid jazz poured into a golden guilded worm tumbler. yep doods. skeedeeedaboodoobab

[grayconv]

Haha, man monk is a jokester, he can write 'em.

[voxel486]

4:13 that riff was SICK!

ohhhh

[Jazzman303]

I call that the monk... It's every where...

[Wormtail81]

The ending is just Textbook Monk.

[vonTreffenfeld]

interesting chords with that ellbow! (;

[brighteyes41888]

the elbow is critical haha

[fess04]

@brighteyes41888 ...... crucial

[DinosaurBess]

@brighteyes41888 I love it! "A few notes here, a note there . . . An elbow will do it here . . ." It's like he's rebelling against a classical training in piano!

[garner29]

@brighteyes41888 The elbow part is my fav LOL!!

[TomatoBreadOrgasm]

I'm going to ask here, and know that I ask as a desperate man.

Are there any video recordings of "Humph" and/or "Evonce?"

[951212ok]

This word "minor" is not "minor or major"!!!!

It was a sleng word in America in the Bebop times(40-50s years)

Monk and his friends in the Milton's for example Charlie Parker Bud Powell and Dizzy Gillespie have a special Bebop language!!!

[BoxOfFrogbit]

But slang for what?

[oOJimmySueOo]

Lester Young is the man for jazz language

[BuckshotLaFunke]

Yes, JimmySue, the man who could really tell a story on his horn.

[KennyG3333]

if this is off minor, shouldn't it be major? this guy is crazy lol

[longtallsallie08]

um you know there are like 12 modes right

[DocLow]

There are many more.

[fluffaduck]

theres only 7 actually

[BlueBlueFeelin]

there's 43

[vonTreffenfeld]

69, you know.

[Simonomon2]

What an enigmatic man... random silly hats, elbow bashing, leg spasms, and awkward hand motions

[Richardmom71]

Great tune in C chord. I learn to play my bleus harp on this.

[hateaters]

you know, I am looking at the sheet music for it right now, and it looks like it is in G-.

[Streamline09]

Thanks for these clips of a great master and his amazing band. Perhaps one day they can restore Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where both younger and older musicians can continue to advance America's classical music.

Also, the location of the old Birdland should be converted to a museum dedicated to the legacy of the pioneers of 52nd Street.

[utubeissad]

Minton's Playhouse HAS reopened in its original location, and the original Birdland is now a strip club called "Flashdancers".

[SickThing9]

Great Freakin Tune!

[caspar1]

Haha the elbow at 4:31 is classic!

[nineblackkasabian]

fuck yeah!

[theinvisiblelight]

seriously.

[muertabo]

I love the style of thelonious monk .. dont care about the techniques, i like the musicians with a unique style

[jamianm]

Remember that Simpsons episode where Lisa Simpson is sitting in a Jazz club, listening to a woman play violin? The guy next to her says, "It sounds like she's hitting a baby with a cat." Lisa says, "You have to listen to the notes she's NOT playing." Guy remarks, "I can do that at home." That just reminds me of Monk ;)

[SickThing9]

I've made the same comparison. Yay. Someone who gets it!  Thanks.

[Beatnikzombie]

@jamianm The notes run around the melody. I loved that episode. Lisa is my favorite.

[retsofnalanosaj]

Charlie Rouse is under-appreciated in the jazz world. He always plays the perfect notes over Monk's changes. Bad-ass!!

[Jazzman303]

Yeah man, His style has never been replicated... maybe because it wasn't all too recognized but When he plays those short diatonic notes that are so abrupt its hard not to fall into his wake.

[Drummerboy106]

the big band arrangements do sound great.

[godswiph]

gotta love how the rhythm section makes the accompaniment so relevant to this specific tune. not too many groups do that.

[bluesjaye]

Hello folks, I love watching Monk play. He uses his pauses so well and it seems you can see the wheels turning as in, "what'll I play next?" Jay

[jazzimr]

this sounds great when played in a big band

[bflagsst]

i wish the sound on this video was louder, you can't hear alot of what's going on so it sounds kinda backgroundish

[tehmarzvotla]

FRANKIE DUNLOP.

that is all.

[rlawton002]

I'm just happy to hear that metal heads like Monk, thats great! For me it was Jerry Garcia that introduced me to Monk... and Ornette

[Memberofdoom]

Man, I love Monk's compositions. You won't here anything like this out of any other composer, man, this takes some out-there creativity to get this in your head. So tight.

[TheThinkerMusic]

@Memberofdoom You gotta check out Schoenberg. Atonal classical composer.

[JOwenBall]

@Memberofdoom -hear?

[jamboliboli]

@Memberofdoom Well you definetly won't 'here' it.

[christopherrx]

@Memberofdoom bud powell wrote this song just to throw that out there

not monk

but monks the man : D no doubt

he knows whats up

[tron33333]

btw that was a response to mikemapps

[mikemapps]

fair enough

[mikemapps]

forgive me for being opinionated but this music makes me want to kill myself slowly.

[tron33333]

Excuse me for being opinionated but you should go kill yourself slowly

This is ART, unlike anything that you most liekly listen to.

Modal Jazz is the most sophisticated form of music there is. Along with Progressive Technical Atonal Death Metal (one genre lol) and Minimalist Classical.

just though you should know

PS this is my friend AJ's Account, if you wanna respond directly respond to 4metalhead9messiah5

[guitarman63mm]

"This music" is where you went wrong. Monk is absolutely amazing, I'll admit this isn't one of my favorite pieces either (far from it really), but his phrasing and dissonance complements his work very well normally.

[jonnyopinion]

Monk was the greatest musician of the 20th century.

[eggory]

This music makes me feel funny.

[solargesture]

lol me too

[sllldllld]

I've been trying to improv over this thing with my monk aebersold but man is it rough it might even be harder than epistrophy

[yougotcrad1]

hoo hoo the dissonance makes me wanna fuck!

[Ipoonthecasbah]

Doesn't it though?

[efergarmx]

pirirriiiiiiii piiiiii pi piiiiiiiii tooooo toooooo ruuuu tuuuuuuuuuuu

[hateaters]

Rouse has the bullfrog syndrome along with miles davis.

[vanderbiltsax]

hahahahhaha too true

[pabloferm05]

puto el que lee

[0583257]

it's Powdered Toast Man! (happyhappyjoyjoy :)

[YourSuperiorSays]

stimpy you blithering iiidiot!

[birdmaneeg]

Look it rouse's throat! It's Huge, just like his sound!

[megabopp]

His tunes have such beautifull changes which are challenging to blow on! This is one of Monks greatest solos,notice the ease with which he wends his way through the changes! AMAZING!

[megabopp]

This the real stuff! A lot of todays jazz is slick with no heart.This comes from their soul!

[Johnnynoir333]

wo..it's 88 rebound off the minor corner pocket that glides straight( no chaser) the open ended night with a satellite that bite...

[workorangeclock]

wow look how crazy that back drop is and dig his gone hat baby dig it all for they know and understand time and have gone beyond the realms of the norm and people back then couldn't grasp it seeing as how they still lived in their boxes and all, yes, yes....

[tnolan171]

this is an incredible group

[EReedy226]

Cool video. You can hear the bass really well for an authentic recording like this.

Monk's band knows how to play :)

[guitarsvolta]

maybe that has something to do with the fact that it says SWR in the corner. i think it does but they make bass amps, i know its a reach but maybe they fuck with the EQ.

[cuzigothighh]

Me neither, lovin the elbow strike on the keyboard..

[bossaroo]

wow. never seen this. Rouse is too cool. thank you!!!