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Rating: Good |
For Epistrophy, two of the Thelonious Monk Quartet's live performances in Paris on February 23, 1964, the show runs for just under an hour, and towards the midpoint, the inspiration level noticeably increases. This improvement is most noticeable during a spirited "Hackensack," where Monk is clearly harmonically engaged, but especially on the following track, "Rhythm-A-Ning," sharply played with increased energy, ingenuity, and collective interplay.
The format remains the same, with tenor sax, piano, bass, and drum solos in strict sequence between the beginning and the end. Charlie Rouse changes the melody and fiddles with it a bit during the "Sweet Georgia Brown" adaptation, "Sweet And Lovely," where the shorter solos propel the piece forward. The longer stride-to-tender moments before Monk's intro, over a minute and a half, allude to the slow tempo, which hinders Rouse's beautiful chord substitutions before overtly long solos, especially Butch Warren's extended unaccompanied discourse. A typical unison melody is played twice for "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy."
Epistrophy is certainly a historic recording, nothing earth-shattering or revelatory, but a solid addition to Monk's discography, probably best appreciated by completists.
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