CRISS CROSS
Thelonious Monk's use of motivic
construction in composition and improvisation (also published in: “Annual Review of
Jazz Studies”, Vol. 10)
Lawrence Koch in his article
"Thelonious Monk: Compositional Techniques" states
that "[p]erhaps the most ingenious aspect of Monk's
writing is the total unity and balance of the composition...the
piece expands from a single figure; it constantly adds elements
together and intermittently returns to the original
figure." Koch's observation might be extended to
include Monk's improvisation process as well; it is rare for
Monk to stray from the elements presented in the exposition of
the melody. Scholars and performing musicians discussing the
work of Thelonious Monk often remark on apparent motivic
connections between the melody and the solos which follow.
Pianist Fred Hersch observes that "[i]mprovising on a Monk
theme is like an extension of the composition, because that's
the way Monk plays, and that's the way he writes. So your
improvisation grows out of the piece itself." Ran
Blake, in his Downbeat and New Grove Jazz articles
characterizing Monk's process has stated that "[h]is
improvisations were molten Monk compositions, and his
compositions were frozen Monk improvisations." and
that "…Monk invented and developed ideas rather than
merely embroidering chord changes…[h]is most important
contribution as a pianist was his remarkable ability to
improvise a coherent musical argument with a logic and
structure comparable to the best of his notated
compositions".
Monk's composition Criss-Cross has often
been used to exemplify the use of motivic development in his
compositions and improvisations. The melody and harmony appear
in lead-sheet form in Ran Blake's New Grove Jazz and Downbeat
articles. It has been published as part of collections of
Monk's work, which in some cases include one chorus of an
ensuing solo. Nowhere in the available literature, however, is
a full transcription of the composition with the subsequent
solos and recapitulation of the melody presented; nor is a
thorough analysis and discussion of the recorded performances
in support of these observations to be found. Unfortunately, in
fact, the published transcriptions are often erroneous in
regard to rhythmical motives and form, and do not specify the
recording on which they are based.
In this paper I offer thorough
transcriptions of the four recorded performances by Monk of
Criss Cross currently known and available, which occurred
in the twenty year period from 1951 to 1971. Through
lecture and performed examples I intend to use these
transcriptions as evidence that Monk was a soloist who often
related his improvisations to the motives initially presented
as compositional material, and perhaps was attempting to create
in performance a work unified from beginning to end by
references to the thematic and formal structure of the
composition. Though my presentation will focus on motivic
development, I include two ancillary issues: Monk's use of
nuance as a procedure of variation, and a comparison of his
performances over the twenty year span.
Lawrence O. Koch, Thelonious Monk: Compositional Techniques in “Annual Review of Jazz
Studies”
Paul Berliner. Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation. (Chicago:The University of Chicago Press,
1994), p. 345
Ran Blake. The
Monk Piano Style in
“Downbeat”, July 1982, p.27
Thelonious Monk
in “The New Grove Jazz”. Macmillan Press Limited,
London 1988.