Misterioso [Bonus Tracks]

Performer: Teri Roiger & John Menegon/Thelonious Monk Quartet/Teri Roiger/Thelonious Monk
Artist: Johnny Griffin; Kenny Burrell; Jack DeJohnette; Roy Haynes
Engineer: Ray Fowler
Producer: Orrin Keepnews
Distributor: Fantasy (distributor)

Notes: Thelonious Monk Quartet: Thelonious Monk (piano); Johnny Griffin (tenor saxophone); Ahmed Abdul-Malik (bass); Roy Haynes (drums). Recorded live at The Five Spot Cafe, New York, New York on August 7, 1958. Originally released on Riverside (1133). Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews. Digitally remastered by Joe Tarantino (1989, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California). MISTERIOSO is a tribute album to Thelonious Monk. Personnel: Teri Roiger (vocals); Kenny Burrell (guitar); John Menegon (bass); Jack DeJohnette (drums). Recorded at The Make Believe Ballroom, West Shokan, New York. Thelonious Monk Quartet: Thelonious Monk (piano); Johnny Griffin (tenor saxophone); Ahmed Abdul-Malik (bass); Roy Haynes (drums). Recorded live at The Five Spot Cafe, New York, New York on August 7, 1958. Originally released on Riverside (1133). Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews. Digitally remastered using 20-bit K2 Super Coding System technology. Tributee: Thelonious Monk. Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano); Johnny Griffin (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone); Roy Haynes (drums). Liner Note Author: Orrin Keepnews. Recording information: Five Spot Cafe, New York, NY (07/09/1958-08/07/1958); Live at the Five Spot Cafe, New York, NY (07/09/1958-08/07/1958). Unknown Contributor Roles: Johnny Griffin; Ahmed Abdul-Malik; Roy Haynes. This is the second long-player to be taken from the same August 1958 Five Spot recordings that had yielded the similarly brilliant Thelonious in Action The quartet heard on these sets includes Monk (piano), Johnny Griffin (tenor sax), Roy Haynes (drums), and Ahmed Abdul-Malik (bass). Their overwhelming and instinctual capacities directly contribute to the powerful swingin' and cohesive sound they could continually reinvent. While these are Monk's tunes, arrangements, and band, it is Griffin who consistently liberates the performances. During "Nutty," his flurry of activity -- which adeptly incorporates several lines from "Surrey With the Fringe on Top" -- has a maniacal swing that is highlighted by some definitive counterplay from both Haynes and Monk. Additionally, the transition between Haynes and Monk is organic and seemingly psychic. "Blues Five Spot" -- a 12-bar blues homage to their current residence -- features solos from each band member. Griffin and Monk again display the seemingly innate ability to instantly recalculate chord structures as well as transmute melodies. The show-stopping solo vamp from Griffin hurls the rhythm along while simultaneously dropping in quotes from other tunes -- such as the theme for the animated Popeye cinematic shorts. Malik's brief solo, like his band interaction, is underrated yet precisely executed. The title track is given an exploratory performance. While Griffin aptly seizes the reins to blow his bop onslaught, Haynes' natural and subdued agility perfectly supports the extended tenor solo, creating some unique passages. Ironically, the one Monk solo performance, "Just a Gigolo," is the only composition not by Monk. ~ Lindsay Planer When the quartet featured on MISTERIOSO was burning up the Five Spot back in 1958, they came under attack from fickle fans and critics, seemingly for no other reason than that they weren't the 1957 model (featuring John Coltrane, Wilbur Ware and Shadow Wilson). But the wit, wonder and vigorous interplay of this quartet enlivens these performances to such a degree, it's impossible to discern what the big deal was about. This is an amazing band. Listening to tenor virtuoso Johnny Griffin on "Blues Five Spot," it's clear that for him Monk's music was almost second nature. Like fellow tenor giant Sonny Rollins, Griffin understood the rhythmic impetus behind Monk's melodies, and his penchant for witty interpolations allowed him to work a ditty such as "The Sailor's Hornpipe" into the conclusion of his unaccompanied chorus. Also, if you listen to how he and Monk reprise the head (and introduce "Let's Cool One"), you'll note the saxophonist's ability to voice his lines in such a way as to suggest different saxophone ranges, and even multiple horns when playing in unison with the pianist. Which leads to an epic level of collective call-and-response throughout MISTERIOSO. The multi-leveled "Let's Cool One" has a main theme and an equally important counter-line, and during their collective improvisation, Griffin and Monk manage to maintain this antiphonal balance of preacher and congregation. Even when the band drops away for another solo Griffin break, the counter-lines and cross-rhythms keep going in the listener's mind until Monk returns with fresh abstractions and a hint of stride. Of the remaining performances, "In Walked Bud" and the title tune generate the most collective heat. On the former, the pianist counters Griffin's own Monkisms with sly rhythmic abstractions of the tune's main thematic accents, which Haynes echoes in his solo. And on "Misterioso," Monk's trademark blues, the pianist's stark harmonic juxtapositions preclude any hint of cliched postures, as he and Griffin dig down deep into this timeless form. When the quartet featured on MISTERIOSO was burning up the Five Spot back in 1958, they came under attack from fickle fans and critics, seemingly for no other reason than that they weren't the 1957 model (featuring John Coltrane, Wilbur Ware and Shadow Wilson). But the wit, wonder and vigorous interplay of this quartet enlivens these performances to such a degree, it's impossible to discern what the big deal was about. This is an amazing band. Listening to tenor virtuoso Johnny Griffin on "Blues Five Spot," it's clear that for him Monk's music was almost second nature. Like fellow tenor giant Sonny Rollins, Griffin understood the rhythmic impetus behind Monk's melodies, and his penchant for witty interpolations allowed him to work a ditty such as "The Sailor's Hornpipe" into the conclusion of his unaccompanied chorus. Also, if you listen to how he and Monk reprise the head (and introduce "Let's Cool One"), you'll note the saxophonist's ability to voice his lines in such a way as to suggest different saxophone ranges, and even multiple horns when playing in unison with the pianist. Which leads to an epic level of collective call-and-response throughout MISTERIOSO. The multi-leveled "Let's Cool One" has a main theme and an equally important counter-line, and during their collective improvisation, Griffin and Monk manage to maintain this antiphonal balance of preacher and congregation. Even when the band drops away for another solo Griffin break, the counter-lines and cross-rhythms keep going in the listener's mind until Monk returns with fresh abstractions and a hint of stride. Of the remaining performances, "In Walked Bud" and the title tune generate the most collective heat. On the former, the pianist counters Griffin's own Monkisms with sly rhythmic abstractions of the tune's main thematic accents, which Haynes echoes in his solo. And on "Misterioso," Monk's trademark blues, the pianist's stark harmonic juxtapositions preclude any hint of cliched postures, as he and Griffin dig down deep into this timeless form. This is the second long-player to be taken from the same August 1958 Five Spot recordings that had yielded the similarly brilliant Thelonious in Action! The quartet heard on these sets includes Monk (piano), Johnny Griffin (tenor sax), Roy Haynes (drums), and Ahmed Abdul-Malik (bass). Their overwhelming and instinctual capacities directly contribute to the powerful swingin' and cohesive sound they could continually reinvent. While these are Monk's tunes, arrangements, and band, it is Griffin who consistently liberates the performances. During "Nutty," his flurry of activity -- which adeptly incorporates several lines from "Surrey With the Fringe on Top" -- has a maniacal swing that is highlighted by some definitive counterplay from both Haynes and Monk. Additionally, the transition between Haynes and Monk is organic and seemingly psychic. "Blues Five Spot" -- a 12-bar blues homage to their current residence -- features solos from each band member. Griffin and Monk again display the seemingly innate ability to instantly recalculate chord structures as well as transmute melodies. The show-stopping solo vamp from Griffin hurls the rhythm along while simultaneously dropping in quotes from other tunes -- such as the theme for the animated Popeye cinematic shorts. Malik's brief solo, like his band interaction, is underrated yet precisely executed. The title track is given an exploratory performance. While Griffin aptly seizes the reins to blow his bop onslaught, Hayes' natural and subdued agility perfectly supports the extended tenor solo, creating some unique passages. Ironically, the one Monk solo performance, "Just a Gigolo," is the only composition not by Monk. The CD reissue includes two bonus performances -- "'Round Midnight" and "Evidence" -- that rival the intensity of the main program. Like the bonus material offered on Thelonious in Action!, both tracks were taken from a July 1958 performance by the same musicians in the same venue. Both unedited sets are available in the 15-disc Complete Riverside Recordings box. ~ Lindsay Planer

JazzTimes (9/99, p.97) - "...[Roiger] has an excellent vocal quality and understands the value of understatement....there's a lot to recommens about this thoughtful releaase."

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