[PHC1]

Blue Monk Composition.

"A blues in B♭ written in the studio and first recorded on September 22, 1954, for the album Thelonious Monk Trio, and is by far the tune Monk recorded the most. The melody is partly borrowed from Charlie Shavers' "Pastel Blue".[16] Versions of the tune appear on Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk,[17] and Monk's Blues. The tune appears on almost every single live album by Monk, including the albums from Carnegie Hall,[18] Five Spot, Town Hall, Tokyo, Newport (1958, 1959, 1963[19]), It Club, and at the Jazz Workshop. Abbey Lincoln wrote lyrics to the tune around 1961,[20] and was recorded by Carmen McRae as "Monkery's the Blues" on the album Carmen Sings Monk."



“Blue Monk” by Thelonious Monk was the pianist’s favorite composition, according to Laurent de Wilde in Monk, and he recorded it often. In a 1963 interview when asked to name a record that he plays on that he especially likes his answer is “‘Blue Monk’ with the trio.” He first recorded it on September 22, 1954, with Art Blakey on drums and Percy Heath on bass. The film Jazz on a Summer’s Day features him performing “Blue Monk” at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival."


Blue Monk

Abbey Lincoln

Goin' alone, life is your own,
But sometimes the cost is dear.
Being complete, knowing defeat,
Keeping on from year to year.
It takes some doing.
Monkery's the blues you hear,
Keeping on from year to year.
Life is a school, 'less you're a fool,
But the learning brings you pain.
Knowing at once you're just a dunce,
Trial and error, loss and gain.
It takes some doing -
Monkery's a slow, slow train,
Trial and error, loss and gain.
Finding your one place in the sun
Doesn't come the easy way
Shallow and deep, nothing is cheap
Measured by the dues you pay
It takes some doin',
Monkery's a blue highway
Measured by the dues you pay

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Thelonious Monk