For some reason I went on a jazz kick for a few days. Wait, I remember what caused it—I was working on a mix for a coworker. She wanted “your favorite songs”, which isn’t nearly limited enough. The point is that one of the songs that I thought would make the cut was John Coltrane’s version of “My Favorite Things”.
It was a Sunday, so I took a break from thinking about which songs I was going to include. I took a break to watch John from Cincinnati and one of the characters played that very song on his sax. Then, over the closing credits they played Coltrane’s version. My mind was blown.
Thus, I decided that my album of the week would be Thelonious Monk Quartet featuring John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall.
I’m not nearly as knowledgeable about jazz as I am about other types of music, but I do know what I like. And this, I like.
Over the week that this album was in rotation, I knew that I could just put it on and zone out. “Monk’s Mood” starts out kind of slow and doesn’t appear to have a direction until about halfway past the four minute mark. Up to that point it’s primarily Monk and Coltrane playing off each other. And even after that point it’s really only a hint of direction.
As much as I love other genres, I really do kind of feel that jazz is “more pure” if that even makes sense. I’m a fan of hip-hop instrumentals, particularly of songs with lyrics, but I enjoy beat CDs too—when I listen to those instrumentals I’m hearing or thinking the lyrics in my head.
When it came to At Carnegie Hall I could just lose myself in the music. Sometimes I’d focus on Monk, other times I’d focus on Coltrane. Sometimes I’d only pay attention to the drummer. And still other times I’d try to hear the notes that they weren’t playing.
Of course this album made me sort of sad that I never had the opportunity to witness either of these greats perform live. But I suppose a live recording is the next best thing, and it’s actually a really good live recording. As I said, I’m not too well-versed in jazz, but apart for the occasional bursts of applause, it sounds almost studio quality.
This album will certainly get placed on my “go to” list.
