Carmen Sings Monk Reviews

Anyone as crazy about Monk as I am will love this album. Carmen McRae, the seasoned jazz singer, has the chops and the prestige to go out on a limb for these vocal arrangements of Thelonius Monk's best compositions. Backed by a quartet with outstanding tenor work by Clifford Jordan, she let's them share equally in the creation and improvization. Normally Monk's pieces wouldn't be thought of as compatible with a vocalist, so much dissonance and strange melodies. A number of people wrote the lyrics, notably Jon Hendricks, and some are outstanding, especially "Well you Needn't". She also does a wonderfully long version of "Round Midnight" which introduced me to extended lyrics.