Mulligan Meets Monk

Thelonious Monk & Gerry Mulligan, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: August 12, 1957
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000YGU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #157,451 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Critics thought the pairing of Gerry Mulligan and Thelonious Monk a strange one when this 1957 session was originally released, Mulligan's light baritone saxophone strongly identified with the cool school and Monk's percussive piano, fractured rhythms, and dissonant tunes the last word in bop. It's an interesting combination, though, with Mulligan's melodic focus actually working fairly well with Monk and his regular band, drummer Shadow Wilson and bassist Wilbur Ware. Common roots in swing are apparent on Mulligan's "Decidedly," a variant of "Undecided," while the baritonist acquits himself well on some of Monk's best-known tunes. Monk was at his peak as a player in 1957--working steadily for the first time in years in a long tenure at the Five Spot--and it shows everywhere here, including the splashing chords and asymmetrical runs of "Sweet and Lovely." Ware, one of the most significant bassists in jazz history, is a perfect accompanist and as commanding a soloist as Mulligan or Monk, using subtle rhythmic shifts and double stops in an almost minimalist way. The alternate takes of several tunes are genuinely different approaches to the material, revealing just how spontaneous the meeting was. --Stuart Broomer

Product Description
Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2006. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable meeting of minds, April 2, 2002

By	N. Dorward "obsessive reviewer" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This disc combines Monk & his rhythm-section of the time--Wilbur Ware & Shadow Wilson--with the baritonist Gerry Mulligan, a stylistically unusual pairing that works out very well. Monk's skeletal chording & frequent preference to have his sidemen "stroll" (play without piano accompaniment) make a natural common ground with Mulligan, who had developed the pianoless quartet in his 1950s groups with Baker & Brookmeyer. Though this session was an informal blowing session, & thus doesn't feature any of Mulligan's sophisticated arrangements, he nonetheless frequently plays quiet counterlines to Monk like he did with Chet--it's an interesting sound, & I've never heard anyone else do this with Monk.

The album is a bit uneven, but what pushes it into the first rank is the version of "Round Midnight", which is probably the single best group reading of the tune I've heard by Monk. Certainly it's the best version he did for Riverside except for the solo version on _Thelonious by Himself_. As usual with Monk in this period, his flow of compositions was slowing down, & there's only one new tune on the disc, "Rhythm-a-Ning" (first recorded by Monk for Atlantic a few months before on his collaboration with Art Blakey). The version here is very different from Monk's later recordings of the tune: it has a double-length bridge which seems to give Mulligan a little trouble (he goofs up a little at the end of the bridge on his first chorus); the performance isn't quite together, but nonetheless has lots of meat in the solos & a good vibe, which is I presume why they didn't do retakes. I'm not sure why "I Mean You" needed 3 complete takes, as they all sound pretty good to me--but I certainly won't complain about getting the bonus tracks. "Decidedly" is Mulligan's variant on Shavers' "Undecided", & features a stoptime solo by Mulligan & some of Ware's most intriguing playing--check out his very offbeat solo on the master take, in particular. "Sweet and Lovely" is a favourite tune of mine, & despite Monk's covering it in other places I would again name this as the best group reading Monk gave it.

A fine disc. Originally it was intended that the album be split between quartet tracks & a big band arranged by Mulligan, but because the 1st recording session went so well the producer & the band decided to go back into the studio the next day to complete the album with just the quartet. I think that was the right decision. This remains one of the high points of Monk's Riverside tenure.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mulligan Meets Monk, February 5, 2008

By	S. Ferguson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Real intimate playing between M&M. I listen to Round Midnight constantly. (I play tenor sax and I am learning the licks) All the tunes are great, and there are alternate takes of Decidedly, Straight-No Chaser and I mean you. Some were previously unissued. The bass drum on Rhythm-A-Ning will shake your guts. (That's a Good thing) I just love to crank this up because I enjoy the presence of this high quality recording and I am a big fan of M and M.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good music...of course!, October 27, 2002

By	DMG (Swindon UK) - See all my reviews

This album is not in the class of, say, 'Kind of Blue', but that is not to say that it isn't good, with a fabulous version of 'Round Midnight' being the highlight. Mulligan delivers some stylish sounds, although, having Monk's version of 'I mean you' with John Coltrane, I was left slightly disappointed by that track (mind you, who could compare to Trane?!) There's good support from Wilbur Ware and Shadow Wilson, and the great playing you'd expect from Monk. The selection of tunes is mostly Monk, although there's a Mulligan original, 'Decidedly', given the Monk treatment.