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Let's Cool One
Composer:
Thelonious Monk
Year:
1958
Origin:
Debuted on the album Misterioso
Style:
Swing, typically played at a comfortable medium tempo.
Form:
A-A-B-A (32 Bars) [8-8-8-8]
Key:
Eb Major
Harmony/Overview:
The harmony of this composition is functional, and strikingly conventional considering many of Monk's other compositions. The A sections are very easy going and are for the most part entirely diatonic. Bars 3-4 can be treated as simply IMaj7 - IImi7 - IIImi7b5 - VI7b9, although the changes used commonly by Monk speed up the harmonic rhythm in the 3rd bar with IMaj7 - VII7b5 - bVII13 - III7sus before landing on VI7b9 in the 4th bar. The bridge begins with a II - V of IVMaj7 and finishes predictably with a momentary stay on II7 before a final II - V returns back to the tonic.
Recordings:
This song has been recorded over 60 times and is a widely popularThelonious Monk composition. Monk first recorded it on his album Misterioso in 1958 and would also record it as a sideman on Clark Terry's album In Orbit the same year. Monk also recorded it with a big band on his album Monk's Blues nearly a decade later. It is one of Monk's more accessible compositions and as a result it has found its way into the repertoire of many musicians, becoming a jam session main stay.
JGC Top Picks:
Thelonious Monk, Misterioso, 1958
Steve Grossman with the Cedar Walton Trio, A Small Hotel, 1993
Adam Rogers, Sight, 2008
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