Photo courtesy Ethan Hein

Thelonious Monk would have been 95 today. Today we are celebrating the life of the great Jazz performer by spinning a few records we have in the vaults. The record I wanted to mention briefly was Criss-Cross, Monk’s second record for Columbia in 1963. On this album, Monk works with John Ore on bass, Frankie Dunlop on drums, and Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone. Ore was best known for playing with Monk, but also with guys like Bud Powell, Lester Young, and Ben Webster, while Dunlop had played sideman with Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Sonny Stitt, and Maynard Fergueson. Charlie Rouse was an interesting character. He played with Monk for over ten years but saw stints with Duke Ellington, Carmen McRae, Count Basie, and Clifford Brown. His son Chico opened a Jazz club in Asbury Park, NJ a few years ago, and has been preserving his legacy since. Underrated as a player, Rouse has a CV that speaks for itself. He also played with Monk the longest out of the Quartet, so it’s safe to say that he knew him musically very well as well as being able to handle his personality.

The tune I chose to highlight today is a short one, “Crepuscule with Nellie” from side 2. Written for his wife Nellie, Monk gives a stellar piano solo. Composed in 1957 when his wife went in for a thyroid procedure, another version of this ballad was discovered on lost tapes of a session at Carnegie Hall with John Coltrane, later to appear from the studio on Criss-Cross. It’s evident that less is really more on this track and Monk’s minimalist approach before the band joins in is distinctly heard. As the band briefly joins in and Monk takes the tune out, you can hear some brief studio chatter. I love it, and feel it’s a fitting ending to this ballad. Happy Birthday Old Hat, your legacy lives on.

Download the track here.

Here’s Monk doing the tune live

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