Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2

AMG Review of Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2

Rick Anderson
All Music Guide

On the second volume in this two-disc series Thelonious Monk has come fully into his own as a leader. The program consists almost entirely of original compositions, and in fact it opens with two of his most difficult: "Four in One" (with its conventional op intro that leads into a bizarre, repeated five-against-two quintuplet sequence) and the forbiddingly abstract "Criss Cross." Get through those and you'll eventually be rewarded with the relatively straightforward, lues-based "Straight No Chaser" and the sweet allad "Ask Me Now," among other treats. Sidemen include the young trumpeter Kenny Dorham and bassist Al McKibbon, as well as a more clued-in Art Blakey and (replacing Blakey on half of the program) Max Roach. Sahib Shihab's sax tone is more appropriate this time out, and the production quality is somewhat better. This disc, along with Volume 1, belongs in every jazz collection. [The CD reissue includes numerous alternate takes and features a chronological song order; thus, its program is very different from that of the LP that it duplicates in the catalog. The same is true of Volume 1.]