Re: Coincidence?

[Alan <alan@dorsai.org>]

GG 'vs lifestyle may have resembled that of a "Monk", if no other common 
bond.

alan@amanda.dorsai.org
new york city

"It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers."
                             James Thurber.

"There is no present or future, only the past, happening over and over 
again, now."
                              Eugene O'Neill

On Mon, 7 Apr 1997, John P. Hill wrote:

> 
> Hi, Alun:
> 
> That *is* quite a coincidence.  Sorry to say that I can't think of
> a *single* thing ever uttered by GG about Monk.  And that's too bad,
> really.  Is there any doubt that they are both piano *icons*.
> 
> GG did make flattering references to both Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans,
> if I recall correctly, but nothing to my knowledge on Thelonious Sphere.
> There was a Bill Evans album that originally contained some comments by
> GG about this being "his kind of music", but I forget the specific album
> title.
> 
> I'm not sure that the repetitive nature of "Raise Four" or "Thelonious"
> would have appealed to GG, much less Monk's angular technique or unusual
> harmonic voicings.  It's hard not to like the UNDERGROUND rendition of "In
> Walked Bud", however, with Jon Hendricks ad-libbing that wonderful vocal
> part.  It's really a great album!
> 
> I wonder how much of the Bud Powell/Monk/Bird lineage Gould would have
> known about.  This music was really *not* well-known or appreciated in
> Ontario when I grew up in the sixties.  Certainly, places like the Royal
> Consevatory would have been *totally* insulated from this music.
> 
> Oscar Peterson was a bit better known (he could be worked in as Canadian
> Content much more easily by the CBC, for those of you familiar with the
> CRTC), so GG might have had more easy access to albums like Peterson's
> NIGHT TRAIN (masterful!) from 1963.
> 
> Is anyone aware of any direct quotes by GG about Thelonious Monk?
> 
> 
> John Hill
> Dept. of Recording Industry
> Middle Tennessee State University
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, 7 Apr 1997, Alun Severn wrote:
> 
> > In February of 1968, this century's two great piano eccentrics were
> > recording within 8 days of each other in Columbia's 30th Street studio in
> > New York City.
> > 
> > I think you will have guessed who I'm referring to. Yes. Gould and Monk.
> > 
> > On February 6, 1968 -- and earlier during January -- GG was recording the D
> > minor Scarlatti sonata, just released on the ITALIAN CONCERTO album; 8 days
> > later, on February 14, 1968 Monk was adding tracks to his seminal
> > UNDERGROUND album.
> > 
> > What a wonderful thought: that there may have been occasions when GG,
> > steeping his hands in a plastic bowl of boiled water prior to playing, or
> > impatiently nibbling an arrowroot, was waiting for Monk to vacate the
> > studio, no doubt leaving the place full of a reeking cloud of dope smoke
> > and cigarette ends. Oh my God: GG would have hated that.
> > 
> > But what, I wonder, if anything, did they think of each other? It seems
> > unbelievable that they could have been untouched by each other. I fully
> > expect an erudite F_minor list member to produce at *least* one GG quote on
> > Monk. Or vice versa.
> > 
> > Very best,  Alun
> > 
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ALUN SEVERN            Snail:  1 Chestnut Road  Oldbury  B68 0AX  England
> >                        Tel:                          + 44 (0)121 422 9509
> >                        Email:                      alun@ukiah.demon.co.uk
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > The point is that we'd all be better off if the least competent managers
> > were being eaten by dingo dogs instead of writing Mission Statements.
> >                                                             - Scott Adams
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
>