NOT Peanut But Uhhh...
Thelonious Monk's "Skippy"
"Skippy", which was originally recorded by Thelonious Monk for Blue Note on May 30th, 1952, might be considered (no, is!) one of his most challenging compositions.
The melody alone, which is uncharacteristically dense by Monk standards, is a workout in and of itself.
Harmonically, the descending cycle of 5ths and chromatic tritone subs require considerable "'shedding" in order to confidently negotiate improvised lines through the changes.
In this post, we'll just concentrate on the head, with the rest to follow.
"Skippy" is 32 bars long with what appears to be an A1-B-A2-C song form. The tune is Monk's reharmonization and abstraction of Vincent Youmans' well known standard, "Tea for Two", which due to the melodic consistency between the sections, comes off more like an A1-A2-A3-B form.
The melody alone, which is uncharacteristically dense by Monk standards, is a workout in and of itself.
Harmonically, the descending cycle of 5ths and chromatic tritone subs require considerable "'shedding" in order to confidently negotiate improvised lines through the changes.
In this post, we'll just concentrate on the head, with the rest to follow.
"Skippy" is 32 bars long with what appears to be an A1-B-A2-C song form. The tune is Monk's reharmonization and abstraction of Vincent Youmans' well known standard, "Tea for Two", which due to the melodic consistency between the sections, comes off more like an A1-A2-A3-B form.
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