Underground (Thelonious Monk album)

Underground

Studio album by Thelonious Monk

Released

1968

Recorded

December 14 and 21, 1967; February 14, 1968

Genre

Jazz

Length

37:23

Thelonious Monk chronology

Straight, No Chaser
(1967)

Underground
(1967)

Monk's Blues
(1968)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[2]

Underground is a 1968 album by American jazz musician Thelonious Monk. It features Monk on piano, Larry Gales on bass, Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, and Ben Riley on drums.

The album is widely known for its provocative cover image, which depicts Monk as a fictitious French Resistance fighter in the Second World War. It contains a number of new Monk compositions, some of which appear in recorded form only on this album. This is the last Monk album featuring the Thelonious Monk Quartet, and the last featuring Charlie Rouse (who appears on only half the tracks, having missed a recording session to attend his father's funeral).

Music

"Ugly Beauty" is the only waltz among Thelonious Monk's recorded compositions.
"Raise Four" is a blues with an extraordinarily simple but dissonant melody.
"Boo Boo's Birthday" and "Green Chimneys" are named after Monk's daughter Barbara, Boo Boo being her nickname, and "Green Chimneys" being the name of the school she attended. "Boo Boo's Birthday" has an unorthodox structure, being 21 bars in length and having an unusual harmonic structure.
"In Walked Bud", first recorded in 1947, is based on the chord progression of "Blue Skies" and is dedicated to Monk's friend and fellow jazz pianist, Bud Powell. Jazz vocalese artist Jon Hendricks appears on this track, adding lyrics to the song's melody.

Track listing (later CD issue)

All songs composed by Thelonious Monk unless otherwise noted.

"Thelonious" – 3:13
"Ugly Beauty" – 3:17
"Raise Four" – 5:47
"Boo Boo's Birthday" – 5:56
"Easy Street" (Alan Rankin Jones) – 5:53
"Green Chimneys" – 9:00
"In Walked Bud" (Jon Hendricks, Monk) – 4:17

Personnel

Musicians

Thelonious Monk – piano
Charlie Rouse – tenor saxophone
Larry Gales – bass
Ben Riley – drums
Jon Hendricks – vocals on "In Walked Bud"

Production

Teo Macero – production
Tim Geelan – engineering
Horn Grinner Studios – photography
John Berg, Richard Mantel – art direction

References

↑ Planer, Lindsay. Underground at AllMusic
↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 145. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

Thelonious Monk

Discography

Selected solo albums	Genius of Modern Music: Volume 1 Wizard of the Vibes Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2 Thelonious Monk Trio Monk Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington The Unique Thelonious Monk Brilliant Corners Thelonious Himself Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane Monk's Music Mulligan Meets Monk Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk Thelonious in Action Misterioso The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall 5 by Monk by 5 Thelonious Alone in San Francisco Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk Monk in France Thelonious Monk in Italy Monk's Dream Criss-Cross Monk in Tokyo Miles & Monk at Newport Big Band and Quartet in Concert It's Monk's Time Monk Solo Monk Live at the It Club Live at the Jazz Workshop Misterioso (Recorded on Tour) Straight, No Chaser Thelonious Monk Nonet Live in Paris 1967 Underground Monk's Blues

As sideman	Midnight at Minton's Bird and Diz Bags' Groove Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants Moving Out Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2 Nica's Tempo In Orbit

Compositions	"Ask Me Now" "Bemsha Swing" "Blue Monk" "Epistrophy" "In Walked Bud" "Rhythm-a-Ning" "'Round Midnight" "Ruby, My Dear" "Straight, No Chaser" "Well, You Needn't"

Related articles	Blue Note Sessions Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser

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