ABOUT THE ALBUM

In October and December of 1952 Thelonious Monk, joined by (the mysterious) Gary Mapp and Art Blakey and Max Roach, went into Rudy Van Gelder’s studio. Those two dates (plus two pieces from 1954), recorded on an out-of-tune piano, produced some of the most glorious music of Monk’s recording career and in all of American improvised music. 

On this recording John and Francisco and I revisited that music and created our own impressions. “Reflecting Reflections” features quotes by Monk collected by fellow musicians; “Nicknames” (over echoes of Little Rootie Tootie) is about various monikers given to Monk.  70 years after the original recordings, we want to celebrate this classic work with our own takes of the same pieces while tipping our caps to the master. THANK YOU THELONIOUS SPHERE MONK!

Thank you, Francisco and John, Priya, Paul, Rahul (some sounds), Michael P-C, Federico and Polly, Luke, NEC for support through their Professional Development Grant and Jacques Ponzio and Guillaume Tarche for sharing “Nicknames” from “Monk ABC book” published by Lenka Lente.

- Frank Carlberg

Frank Carlberg Trio
Reflections 1952

Frank Carlberg: Piano
John Hébert: Bass
Francisco Mela: Drums, voice (5)

 Guests:
Priya Carlberg: Voice (2, 11)
Paul Lichter: Spoken word (7, 9)

Recorded in Brooklyn, NY
Release: December 2, 2023
Total time: 41 mins
Catalog number 5898

Illustration by Robert Mirolo
Graphic design by Mark Smith

TRACKS:
1) Spherical Nightmares 5:27
2) A Crowd Of Gigolo  4:32
3) Sweet And Sour, Pungent and Lovely 6:16
4) Getting To Trinkle 4:33
5) Bemsha Cubano 5:15
6) Some Things Foolish 3:56
7) Reflecting Reflections  5:35
8) See You Later 2:56
9) Nicknames  4:51
10) Azure Sphere 6:41
11) Just A Gigolo (Ceasar/Casucci/Brammer) 4:28


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