Reflecting on the 1952 Van Gelder studio sessions of The Thelonious Monk Trio with bassist Gary Mapp and drummers Art Blakey or Max Roach, 2021 pianist Frank Carlberg and drummer Francisco Mela revisited those recordings with bassist John Hebert in new compositions absorbing and quoting those icon works, and on two tracks, improvising conversations with the one and only Monk.
Label: 577 Records Catalog ID: 5898 Squidco Product Code: 32234
Format: CDR Condition: New Released: 2022 Country: USA Packaging: Digipack Recorded at Big Orange Sheep Studios, in Brooklyn, New York, on June 9th and 10th, 2021, by Michael Perez-Cosernos.
"In 1952, Thelonious Monk, joined by bassist Gary Mapp, drummer Art Blakey and drummer Max Roach, drove to an early iteration of pioneering Sound Engineer Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey, and entered a small and tightly-managed room that Van Gelder had strict technical rules for. In those recording sessions, and again in 1954, despite Van Gelder's tight management and an out-of-tune piano with tinny fidelity, Monk produced some of the most glorious music of his entire recording career and in all of American improvised music.
These sessions, recorded with his trio, would become Monk Trio on Prestige. 70 years after the original recordings, this album, Reflections 1952, bassist John Hebert, pianist Frank Carlberg and drummer Francisco Mela revisited those iconic recordings and improvised in conversation with them. "Reflecting Reflections" features various quotes by Monk collected by fellow musicians. On "Nicknames" you hear the various monikers journalists gave to Monk, accompanied by abstractions of a Monk piece originally written for his son, "little Rootie Tootie."
As a celebration of this beautiful work, today's musicians offer their own interpretations of the same pieces while tipping the cap to the master; Reflections 1952 is a note of thanks."-577 Records