TV Tapes Thelonious Monk In Oslo and Denmark (1966)

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For the Jazz and Thelonious Monk fans among us. Sit back, relax and enjoy.



Thelonious Monk Live in Norway, Live in Denmark 1966 (Jazz Icons)



Live in Norway

Piano- Thelonious Monk, Tenor Sax- Charlie Rouse, Bass- Larry Gales,
Drums- Ben Riley

1. Lulu’s Back In Town
2. Blue Monk
3. ‘Round Midnight


Live in Denmark

Piano- Thelonious Monk, Tenor Sax- Charlie Rouse, Bass- Larry Gales,
Drums- Ben Riley

1. Lulu’s Back In Town
2. Don’t Blame Me
3. Epistrophy


https://youtu.be/mFdg-rHgkwU

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It's also fun to cross-reference the music back to composition and hear it with lyrics.

So the first one is "Lulu's Back in Town."

"Lulu's Back in Town" is a popular song written in 1935 by Al Dubin (words) and Harry Warren (music)

"Lulu's Back in Town" was performed in the 1935 film Broadway Gondolier, directed by Lloyd Bacon, where it was sung by Dick Powell and The Mills Brothers.

Lyrics:

Where's that careless chambermaid?
Where'd she put my razor blade?
She mislaid it, I'm afraid,
It's gotta be foun'!
Ask her when she cleaned my room
What she did with my perfume;
I just can't lose it,
I've gotta use it,
'Cause Lulu's back in town.
Gotta get my old tuxedo pressed,
Gotta sew a button on my vest,
'Cause tonight I've gotta look my best,
Lulu's back in town.
Gotta get a half a buck somewhere,
Gotta shine my shoes and slick my hair,
Gotta get myself a boutonniere,
Lulu's back in town.
You can tell all my pets,
All my Harlem coquettes;
Mister Otis regrets
That he won't be aroun'.
You can tell the mailman not to call,
I ain't comin' home until the fall,
And I might not get back home at all,
Lulu's back in town.
You can bet I've got it bad,
Best complaint…



"Lulu's Back in Town" was popularized by Fats Waller in his recording of 8 May 1935 for Victor Records which made the US charts. https://youtu.be/7rgtt_8DbKE

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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

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Wiki
"'Round Midnight" is a 1944 composition by pianist Thelonious Monk that quickly became a jazz standard and has been recorded by a wide variety of artists. A version recorded by Monk's quintet was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993. It is the most recorded jazz standard composed by a jazz musician.

It is thought that Monk composed the song sometime in 1940 or 1941. However, Harry Colomby claims that Monk may have written an early version around 1936 (at the age of 19). The song was copyrighted September 24, 1943 in C minor under the title "I Need You So", and included lyrics by Monk himself.[3] The first recording was made by Cootie Williams on August 22, 1944,[4] after the pianist Bud Powell persuaded Williams to record the tune.[5] Monk first recorded the song on November 21, 1947, and later appeared on the Blue Note album Genius of Modern Music: Volume 1,[6] and recorded it several times after that. His first version was transcribed by Lionel Grigson in A Thelonious Monk Study Album (Novello, 1993)


It begins to tell,
'Round midnight, midnight.
I do pretty well, till after sundown,
Suppertime I'm feelin' sad;
But it really gets bad,
'Round midnight.
Memories always start 'round midnight
Haven't got the heart to stand those memories,
When my heart is still with you,
And ol' midnight knows it, too.
When a quarrel we had needs mending,
Does it mean that our love is ending.
Darlin' I need you, lately I find
You're out of my heart,
And I'm out of my mind.
Let our hearts take wings'
'Round midnight, midnight
Let the angels sing,
For your returning.
Till our love is safe and sound.
And old midnight comes around.
Feelin' sad,
Really gets bad
Round round round mid night




Ella Fitzgerald sings "Round Midnight".

Piano: Oscar Peterson
Bass: Ray Brown
Drums: Ed Thigpen
Composer: Thelonious Monk
(UK, 1961)

https://youtu.be/DEaDj6TXiQQ