[.ca] Straight No Chaser

Good, but a bit long-winded:
This is a good album with lots of fine Monk tunes and should certainly be picked up by any serious Monk fan. That said, I wouldn't direct anyone here first for the most essential Monk experience. Some bands can pull off long (8, 11, 14... minute) numbers where every second seems essential and you wouldn't cut any of it. Here, however, the length of some of these songs comes off as kind of undisciplined, and just seem like kind of extended blowing sessions or practice woodsheds. The original release edited some passages of these songs for length; I wonder if in the original recording sessions the band was instructed by the producer to just play out long, and the editing would make the final product. Still, you could do a lot worse than long undisciplined blowing sessions with Thelonious Monk. Even so, I prefer the perfectly-constructed and well-balanced _Monk's Dream_ and _Criss-Cross_ (particularly the former) over this, which I personally find a bit hard to stick with all the way through. Between the extended song lengths and extra tracks, this CD gives more of a feel of a vault release of studio sessions than a single, cohesive album. It's not that I'm overly short of patience or some kind of jazz philistine; it's just the way it strikes me. I'll still get dinged on popularity points for having a minority opinion; oh, well. *That* said, this record does have some of Charlie Rouse's (tenor sax) best work. On this one he finally gives up that one lick that he plays over and over in all the other Monk records I've heard with Rouse on it, and really seems to find his voice. And you've gotta love those irresistible Monk tunes like "We See" (and "Eronel" from Criss-Cross) that seem to have been written specially for Charlie Rouse; he captures the playful, light spirit so well.

• Locomotive
• I Didn't Know About You \oTake 4\c
• Straight, No Chaser
• Japanese Folk Song (Kojo No Tsuki)
• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
• We See
• This Is My Story, This Is My Song
• I Didn't Know About You \oTake 1\c\o#\c\o*\c
• Green Chimneys \o#\c\o*\c