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Thelonious Monk/Bud Powell/Horace SilverThe Very Best Blue Note/EMI I'm excited; Blue Note Records have just released more in their series of repackaged 'Best Of' compilations. These collections succinctly summarise many legendary jazz figures, and producer Michael Cuscuna has cleaned up the recordings to remove annoying pops and crackles that often dog jazz reissues. Given the number of these compilations now available, reviewing the entire set was never going to be a viable option; but having earlier reviewed the horn players in the series, let's focus this time on the piano masters: Monk, Powell and Silver. Thelonious Monk is one of the few figures in modern jazz that doesn't fit with the brash, busy be-bop style of his time. His improvisations are remarkable but simplistic, with an asymmetrical sound that often had him dubbed "amateur" and "incompetent". Monk focused on melody and often stabbed deliberately outside standard harmonic scales. There's no better example of this than Misterioso and Epistrophy from Milt Jackson's 'Wizard Of The Vibes' album, and thankfully both tracks are included here. Several tracks are from unused studio recordings between 1951 and 1952. The versions of Criss Cross and 'Round Midnight are quite different to those heard on other Monk compilations and Ruby My Dear is more than three minutes shorter than the more popular version, demonstrating how Monk's wild improvisation altered his tunes from one recording to another. There are many live recordings that better show Thelonious Monk's eccentricity, but as an introduction this is more than adequate. 'Bud Powell: The Very Best' begins with Bouncing With Bud, featuring Bud Powell's strong 1949 five-piece band. Monk's influence is audible, but Powell's playing is more aligned to the fluttering right-hand style of be-bop. Tracks like Un Poco Loco and Glass Enclosure demonstrate his amazing improvisations and Dance Of The Infidels adds a touch of early swing. The three tracks that Powell recorded with his 1951 trio are the most outstanding, but all eleven tracks deserve their place. Horace Silver was heavily influenced by Bud Powell's extroverted playing, but Silver added swing to his left hand technique and blues structures to his compositions. The highlights are all here: Senor Blues, Sister Sadie, Song For My Father and The Jody Grind. Other tracks trace his development from early years with The Jazz Messengers (The Preacher) to his later Latin influenced material (The Cape Verdean Blues). With eight tracks taken from seven albums, there's just not enough music here to fully explore Horace Silver's years with Bluenote. There's no shortage of other great tunes that could have been added. All three of these 'Very Best' collections are sufficient introductions, although they don't offer a generous serve.  |
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