Monk's Moments – Roland Alexander

As befits a tribute to Thelonious Monk, this medium swinger has an angular melody and a short, slightly irregular form. The 18-measure form can be divided into sections of 8, 6, and 4 measures. Each of these three sections begins with the same two chords, and the 6-measure section's changes are a diminution of the 8-measure A section.

The quintet arrangement, by jazzleadsheets.com's Don Sickler, has the horns playing mostly in octaves and 9ths; there is some counterpoint on the longer melody notes. There are a few rhythm section hits in the head; in the seventh measure of the B section the piano answers the melody with a reversal of the horns' harmonized phrase.

On the recording, drummer (and son of Roland) Taru Alexander starts with three rim shots to set up the tempo, as indicated in the lead sheet; this pickup has proved useful as a count-off for the Minus You tracks (click on the Minus You tab for more information).

"Kojo Time" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.

Monk's Moments is one of several Monk tributes written in the '60s, with short forms and angular melodies in an attempt to capture a bit of Monk's "bag"; others are Andrew Hill's New Monastery and McCoy Tyner's The High Priest. Roland Alexander wrote Monk's Moments in or before 1961; in that year it was copyrighted by Melotone Music, Gigi Gryce's company. Second Floor Music now controls several other Roland Alexander songs, as well as Monk's Moments, that were not recorded in his lifetime. The session on September 21, 2014, in Rudy Van Gelder's recording studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, produced the first recordings of nine of these; more will be available on jazzleadsheets.com very soon.

Minus Drums: get the Concert Condensed Score.
The way Taru Alexander plays behind his father's melody is full of energy. The melody is angular, fun and has lots of syncopation which Alexander highlights with hits. Even from the first phrase of the melody, Taru is already starting to play along with it, hitting a crash on the "and" of beat one of the first bar. You can accent, set up and play almost every figure in the melody like Alexander, or take less busy approach, simply keeping time on the ride cymbal with minimal comping and hits. This track is taken at a medium tempo which is perfect for practicing locking in your ride cymbal.

Minus You audio: The rhythm section editions are simply explained: minus either piano, bass or drums. The minus melody edition has additional solo space, because the original track had both a piano solo and a bass solo. All soloists have been eliminated in this track, giving the melody instrument first a chance to solo with just bass and drums, and then with just piano and drums. The rhythm section should get the Concert Condensed Score. Melody instrumentalists, get the lead sheet for your instrument. The following shows a breakdown of each track edition. There are five Minus You MP3s, with different combinations of instruments. This is the format of the recording clip:
-- melody [1 chorus]
-- piano solo [2 choruses]
-- horn solos [4 choruses]
        2 choruses tenor sax
        2 choruses trumpet
-- bass solo [2 choruses]
-- out melody

[clip] minus melody  - this track works for any solo instrument, Minus You for the entire original track
-- drum pickup (countoff) sets up the melody -- melody
-- melody instrument solo:
        2 choruses with only bass and drums
        4 choruses with full rhythm section
        2 choruses with only piano and drums -- out melody

[clip] minus Piano
-- drum pickup (countoff) sets up the melody
-- comp for the melody (with hits)
-- solo with bass and drums [2 choruses]
-- comp for the tenor sax solo [2 choruses]
-- comp for the trumpet solo [2 choruses]
-- comp for the bass solo [2 choruses]
-- comp for the out melody (with hits)

[clip] minus Bass
-- drum pickup (countoff) sets up the melody
-- walk for the melody
-- walk for the piano solo [2 choruses]
-- walk for the tenor sax solo [2 choruses]
-- walk for the trumpet solo [2 choruses]
-- solo with piano and drums [2 choruses]
-- walk for the out melody

[clip] minus Drums
-- drum pickup (count off) has been left in to set up the melody
-- comp for the melody (with hits)
-- comp for the piano solo [2 choruses]
-- comp for the tenor sax solo [2 choruses]
-- comp for the trumpet solo [2 choruses]
-- comp for the bass solo [2 choruses]
-- comp for the out melody (with hits)

MP3 bass & drums only  - this track is great for any instrument that likes to play with bass & drums only - guitar, vibes, piano, etc.
-- drum pickup (countoff) sets up the melody
-- play the melody
-- solo:
        2 choruses with only bass and drums
        4 choruses with full rhythm section
        2 choruses with only piano and drums
-- play the out melody