Six Monk's Compositions is an album by American saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton

Anthony Braxton

Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...

 recorded in 1987 for the Italian Black Saint

Black Saint/Soul Note

Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian jazz independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.-History:...

 label. The album features Braxton's interpretations of compositions by Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...

.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "From the jump, the listener can tell this is no ordinary Monk tribute. The music is fast, skittering along at a dervish's pace... radically reinterpreted, played and executed with a degree of musicianship seldom found on any tribute".

Track listing

All compositions by Thelonious Monk

1. "Brilliant Corners" - 9:24
2. "Reflections" - 4:58
3. "Played Twice" - 6:51
4. "Four in One" - 9:41
5. "Ask Me Now" - 6:35
6. "Skippy" - 6:43
   • Recorded at Barigozzi Studio in Milano, Italy on June 30 and July 1, l987

Personnel

• Anthony Braxton
  Anthony Braxton
  Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
  
   - alto saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  
• Mal Waldron
  Mal Waldron
  Malcolm Earl Waldron was an American jazz and world music pianist and composer, born in New York City.Like his contemporaries, Waldron's roots lie chiefly in the hard bop and post-bop genres of the New York club scene of the 1950s; but with time, he gravitated more towards free jazz and composition...
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Buell Neidlinger
  Buell Neidlinger
  Buell Neidlinger is an American cellist and double bassist.Neidlinger was born in Westport, Connecticut. After Yale University, he moved to New York City and began playing in various jazz settings...
  
   - bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Billy Osborne - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....