Carmen Sings Monk

Last updated
Carmen Sings Monk
Carmen Sings Monk.jpg
Studio album by
Released1990
RecordedJanuary 30 & February 1, 1988*
April 12 & 13, 1988** [1]
Venue Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA*
StudioClinton Recording Studio, New York**
Genre Vocal jazz
Length65:02
Label Novus
Producer Larry Clothier
Carmen McRae chronology
Fine and Mellow: Live at Birdland West
(1988)
Carmen Sings Monk
(1990)
Sarah: Dedicated to You
(1991)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
Robert Christgau A− [3]

Carmen Sings Monk is a 1990 studio album by the American jazz singer Carmen McRae, focusing exclusively on the songs composed by Thelonious Monk. It was one of the last recordings released in her lifetime. McRae was accompanied by Clifford Jordan on soprano and tenor saxophone, and a rhythm section with pianist Eric Gunnison, bassist George Mraz and Al Foster on drums. Two songs, namely "Get It Straight" and "Suddenly" (i.e. "In Walked Bud"), were recorded earlier that year live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, who played the longest time with Monk. The rhythm section was almost the same, then with Larry Willis on piano.

Contents

McRae was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards for her performance on this album. [4]

Release history

The album was originally released in 1990 on Novus Records (on CD, LP and MC), the first of four subsequent recordings by McRae released on the BMG sublabel, before Novus became defunct in the mid-1990s. McRae herself only saw the release of the following Sarah: Dedicated to You , she died in 1994. [5] The recording was reissued three years later on Jazz Heritage, and re-released in 2001 on Bluebird in their First Editions series, another BMG subsidiary, with three additional alternate takes of the studion session (the recording dates could also finally be specified). After BMG and Sony America merged (as Sony BMG) and split again, Carmen Sings Monk was reissued in 2017, this time by Sony/Legacy. [6]

Track listing

All music composed by Thelonious Monk, lyricists indicated.
Due to copyright restrictions the song titles of these standards were modified (with the exception of "'Round Midnight"). Monk's original titles are indicated after the track titles.

  1. "Get It Straight" ("Straight, No Chaser") (Sally Swisher) – 3:58
  2. "Dear Ruby" ("Ruby, My Dear") (Swisher) – 6:01
  3. "It's Over Now" ("Well, You Needn't") (Mike Ferro) – 5:28
  4. "Monkery's the Blues" ("Blue Monk") (Abbey Lincoln) – 4:56
  5. "You Know Who" ("I Mean You") (Coleman Hawkins, Jon Hendricks) – 3:31
  6. "Little Butterfly" ("Pannonica") (Hendricks) – 5:15
  7. "Listen to Monk" ("Rhythm-a-Ning") (Hendricks) – 3:05
  8. "How I Wish" ("Ask Me Now") (Hendricks) – 4:56
  9. "Man, That Was a Dream" ("Monk's Dream") (Hendricks) – 2:55
  10. "'Round Midnight" (Monk, Cootie Williams, Bernie Hanighen) – 6:32
  11. "Still We Dream" ("Ugly Beauty") (Ferro) – 3:27
  12. "Suddenly" ("In Walked Bud") (Hendricks) – 3:41
  13. "Looking Back" ("Reflections") (Hendricks) – 5:35

Tracks on original CD release, but omitted on LP and MC

  1. "Suddenly" – 3:13
  2. "Get It Straight" – 3:26

Previously unreleased, alternate takes added since 2001 reissue

  1. "'Round Midnight" (Alternate Version) – 7:11
  2. "Listen to Monk" (Alternate Take) – 2:59
  3. "Man, That Was a Dream" (Alternate Take) – 3:23

Personnel

Live at Great American Music Hall on January 30 & February 1, 1988 (tracks 1 & 12)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thelonious Monk</span> American jazz pianist and composer (1917–82)

Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser", "Ruby, My Dear", "In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.

<i>Round About Midnight</i> 1957 studio album by Miles Davis

'Round About Midnight is a studio album by the jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis with his quintet. It was released through Columbia Records in March 1957, and is Davis's first record on the label. The recording took place at Columbia's New York studio in three sessions between October 1955 and September 1956.

<i>Milestones</i> (Miles Davis album) 1958 studio album by Miles Davis

Milestones is a studio album by Miles Davis. It was recorded with his "first great quintet" and released in September of 1958 by Columbia Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen McRae</span> American jazz singer (1920–1994)

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.

<i>Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane</i> 1961 studio album by Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane is a 1961 album by Thelonious Monk issued on Jazzland Records, a subsidiary of Riverside Records. It consists of material recorded four years earlier when Monk worked extensively with John Coltrane, issued after Coltrane had become a leader and jazz star in his own right.

<i>Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics</i> 1960 studio album by Art Pepper

Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics is a 1960 jazz album by saxophonist Art Pepper and a small big band performing arrangements by Marty Paich, who also directed the ensemble.

<i>Genius of Modern Music, Vols. One & Two</i> 1956 compilation album by Thelonious Monk

Genius of Modern Music, Vols. One & Two are a pair of separate but related 12" compilation albums by American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk released on Blue Note in 1956.

<i>Criss-Cross</i> (album) 1963 studio album by Thelonious Monk

Criss-Cross is an album by Thelonious Monk that was released by Columbia, his second for that label. The album consists of previously released Monk compositions that were re-recorded for Columbia by the Thelonious Monk Quartet.

<i>The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk</i> 1983 box set by Thelonious Monk

The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk is a box set by American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk compiling his recordings for Blue Note first released as a limited four-LP box set on Mosaic Records in 1983 before being issued as a four-CD box set by Blue Note for the first time in 1994 as The Complete Blue Note Recordings.

<i>Live at the Jazz Workshop</i> 1982 live album by Thelonious Monk

Live at the Jazz Workshop is a live album by jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, that was recorded at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. The album was recorded on November 3 and 4, 1964, and released by Columbia Records in 1982.

<i>Monk in Tokyo</i> 1963 live album by Thelonious Monk

Monk in Tokyo is a live album recorded in 1963 and first released in Japan by Columbia Records as two separate LPs in 1963, then in edited form as a single LP in 1969 by CBS/Sony Records and reissued in complete form as a double LP in 1973, featuring several original Monk compositions, as well as jazz standards.

<i>Live at the It Club</i> 1982 live album by Thelonious Monk

Live at the It Club is a Thelonious Monk album released posthumously by Columbia Records. Recorded October 31 and November 1, 1964, at the "It" Club in Los Angeles, California. The album features Monk's quartet—with Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on bass, and Ben Riley on drums—performing original compositions as well as jazz standards.

<i>Thelonious Himself</i> 1957 studio album by Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Himself is a studio album by Thelonious Monk released in 1957 by Riverside Records. It was Monk's fourth album for the label. The album features Monk playing solo piano, except for the final track, "Monk's Mood", which features John Coltrane on tenor saxophone and Wilbur Ware on bass. It was Monk's second solo piano studio album, and it was the first made by an American label and distributed in the United States.

<i>Mulligan Meets Monk</i> 1957 studio album by Gerry Mulligan and Thelonious Monk

Mulligan Meets Monk is a studio album by American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, originally released on Riverside Records in 1957. It has been reissued numerous times. It was remastered for CD in 1987 with three additional alternative takes from the original session.

<i>Freddie Freeloader</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Jon Hendricks

Freddie Freeloader is a 1990 studio album by Jon Hendricks.

<i>Big Bags</i> 1962 studio album by Milt Jackson Orchestra

Big Bags is an album by vibraphonist Milt Jackson featuring big band performances arranged by Tadd Dameron and Ernie Wilkins recorded in 1962 and released on the Riverside label.

<i>Thelonious Monk: The Complete Riverside Recordings</i> 1986 compilation album by Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk: The Complete Riverside Recordings is a comprehensive compilation of the recordings made by Thelonious Monk for Riverside Records between 21 July 1955 and 21 April 1961. It was released by Riverside in 1986 on 22 LPs or on 15 CDs. It contains all the tracks previously released both on the original and on the later expanded CD versions of all his Riverside albums, together with some tracks never previously released.

<i>Carmen McRae</i> (1955 album) 1955 studio album by Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae is a 1955 album by Jazz singer Carmen McRae. It was McRae's second album and was released on the Bethlehem label exclusively as 10" monoaural LP. The album was reissued on LP in 1976 as The Finest of Carmen McRae: You'd Be So Easy to Love, with an additional track, "Too Much in Love to Care". In 1994 Betlehem had digitally remastered the recordings and released a CD with six additional tracks, alternate takes of songs from the original sessions.

<i>Monk on Monk</i> 1997 studio album by T. S. Monk

Monk on Monk is an album by the drummer T. S. Monk, recorded in 1997 and released on the N2K label.

References

  1. Cf. production credits on album booklet image, page 3, of the 2001 re-release on Bluebird on Discogs.
  2. Yanow, Scott. Carmen Sings Monk at AllMusic
  3. Robert Christgau review Archived April 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Grammy Award Database
  5. There is also a live recording from a 1989 concert in Yokohama, that Novus' Japanese sister label Victor released in 1992. Cf. New York State of Mind: Live at Bird at Discogs.
  6. At least outside the US, in France and Canada.