Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington (Remastered)

To put it mildly, Monk had his own way of doing things. This is especially clear on Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, where the singular pianist and composer lends his touch to another great composer’s work instead of performing his own idiosyncratic (and classic) compositions. He takes apart Ellington’s pieces only to reassemble them in startling ways. Monk might play a few bars that sound like exceptionally thoughtful noodling, follow that by not playing for a while (creating an exhilarating tension), and then pound out a handful of oddly voiced chords. Listen to a minute of the first cut, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and the Bronx-born musician’s genius is readily apparent: the old warhorse is entirely reimagined, allowing the listener to hear the piece with a fresh pair of ears. The album features the exceptional rhythm section of bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke, whose unerring sense of swing is the perfect counterbalance to Monk’s wild style. However, the pianist — perhaps inspired by the song’s title — does go it alone on “Solitude.” The result is one of the album’s most poignant performances.