Underground (Thelonious Monk album)

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

Although this album is most 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 only appear in recorded form on this album. This is the last Monk album featuring the Thelonious Monk Quartet, and the last featuring Charlie Rouse (who only appears on half the tracks).

Comments on Tracks

• "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 among even Monk's tunes, 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

1. "Thelonious" – 3:13
2. "Ugly Beauty" – 3:17
3. "Raise Four" – 5:47
4. "Boo Boo's Birthday" – 5:56
5. "Easy Street" – 5:53
6. "Green Chimneys" – 9:00
7. "In Walked Bud" – 4:17

References