Picture it. United States, in the early '90s. A young Bill Clinton was campaigning for the presidency. He agreed to go on MTV to be interviewed by supposed intellectual Tabitha Soren. She asked him if there was anything he ever dreamt of doing. He replied that he had always wanted to play sax with Thelonious Monk. Soren, with her best "smart-girl" face questioned "And who was the loneliest monk?"Now, I'm not saying that back in 1992 I knew everything about Thelonious Monk. But, she was working for MTV. I'm pretty sure the "M" stood for "Music" back then. And she was interviewing a presidential candidate. Anyway, enough about her.
This album was a very stark contrast to the less than 3 minute rock hits from The Crickets. There are only 5 tracks and the shortest one is 5 and a half minutes. The title track was the most complex recording of Monk's career, requiring about a dozen takes in the studio. It was also one of the 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2003.
Aside from all of its historic significance, it's just an amazing piece of music. As I sat in my 1 bedroom apartment in West Hollywood trying my best to stay cool, I managed to escape for 45 minutes. It was definitely a cool album, but it couldn't cure the flop sweats.
Favorite Tracks: "Brilliant Corners," "Pannonica" and "I Surrender, Dear".
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