Bremen 1965

Description

By the mid-1960s,European touring had become a routine familiar to many of Jazz's most well-known practitioners. Piano / composer Thelonious Monk was already over two decades into his career when he began to visit Europe in earnest. Europeans wereexcited to experience Monk and his storied personality, often focusing as much on hisappearance and idiosyncratic behavior ahead of the music. // The release of Bremen1965 finds the legend on his second tour to feature stops in Germany with his seasonedquartet featuring his longtime saxophone foil, Charlie Rouse, along with bassist LarryGales and drummer Ben Riley. Bremen, Germany was the second stop on the quartet'sworld tour, which would include much of Europe, Australia, and Japan. The recordingwas made on March 8, 1965, in Radio Bremen's storied Sendesaal / Studio F in front ofan anticipative audience. // Bremen 1965 is the first official release of the concert,mastered from the original tapes held in the Radio Bremen vaults under the guidanceand blessings of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Radio Bremen, and T.S. Monk. Therelease will be available in a handful of formats, including digitally along with double CDand LP record sets. Included with the physical releases is a researched set of liner notes from Sunnyside's Bret Sjerven. // The recording catches Monk just after some notabletransitions. The pianist left his former label, Riverside Records, for Columbia Records,where his most recent release, It's Monk's Time, was fresh off the presses when thequartet arrived in Europe in 1965. There had also been a change in the rhythm section,as bassist John Ore and drummer Frankie Dunlop had been replaced by Larry Galesand Ben Riley, who would both appear on Monk's next studio recording, Monk. // Thelong performance captures unique takes of Monk classics, like "Criss Cross, " "Well YouNeedn't," "Epistrophy," and "Rhythm-a-ning," along with standards that Monk continuedto find inspiring, including "Sweet and Lovely," "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," and"Don't Blame Me." Long, loose takes on these pieces allow for listeners to experienceMonk and company's ability to swing, duel, and sing in their most unparalleled fashion. // The music of Thelonious Monk remains eternally and monumentally singular inapproach and conception. Monk's interpretations of his tunes and those of others haveleft lasting impressions on the genre of jazz. Bremen 1965 highlights an incredibleperformance during one of Monk and his quartet's most fiery and exploratory periods .