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List of compositions by Thelonious Monk#Bemsha Swing

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-{{about|the composition by Thelonious Monk|the album by Woody Shaw|Bemsha Swing (album)}}
+#REDIRECT [[List of compositions by Thelonious Monk#Bemsha Swing]]
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-"'''Bemsha Swing'''" (also known as "'''Bimsha Swing'''") is a [[jazz standard]] co-written by [[Thelonious Monk]] and [[Denzil Best]].
+{{R from song}}
+}}
+{{Authority control}}
-==Composition==
-The tune is 16 bars in the form of AABA.  It is in 4/4 meter but is often played with a 2-feel.<ref>''The Thelonious Monk Fake Book,'' Steve Cardenas (transcriber), Don Sickler (editor). Hal Leonard, 2002, p. 9.</ref> The melody consists of a motif around a descending C [[Spanish phrygian scale]] (the A section) and a chromatic [[Sequence_(music)|sequencing]] of the same motif a fourth higher on an F Spanish phrygian scale (the B section). The chordal movement by contrast suggests a C Major tonality rather than C Spanish phrygian, its relative minor f (melodic or harmonic), or its relative Major, A♭ Major. However, the song ends on a D♭maj7 (#11) rather than a C chord, a displacement which is characteristic of Monk compositions.
-==Recording history==
-The song was first recorded by Monk on the sessions for the album ''[[Thelonious Monk Trio]]'' in 1952. Soon after, in 1954, it was later recorded with Monk as a sideman on the [[Miles Davis]] album ''[[Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants]]'', which was released in 1959. Monk himself revisited the song on his acclaimed 1957 LP ''[[Brilliant Corners]]''.
-Besides Davis the tune became favoured by many others. After its initial publication [[free Jazz]] pianist [[Cecil Taylor]] covered the tune on his 1956 album ''[[Jazz Advance]]''. Four years later, in 1960, sax player [[John Coltrane]] recorded a version with [[Don Cherry]] on their ''[[The Avant-Garde (album)|The Avant-Garde]]'' (released 1966). [[Ed Blackwell]] was on drums at that session with whom Cherry revisited the track on their duo record ''[[El Corazón (album)|El Corazón]]'' in 1982. Cherry recalled the tune again on his 1989 ''[[Art Deco (album)|Art Deco]]''.
-In 1963 [[Bill Evans]] released a piano solo interpretation on his acclaimed record ''[[Conversations with Myself]]''. Nearly two decade later [[Geri Allen]] recorded another piano solo version on her ''[[Home Grown (Geri Allen album)|Home Grown]]'' in 1985. The year after trumpeter [[Woody Shaw]] put the tune on record and released it in 1997 on his [[Bemsha Swing (album)|album of the same name]].
-The [[funk rock]] band [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] covered the song during their 1989-90 [[Mother's Milk Tour]], renaming their version "F.U." and adding some lyrics. A live version can be found on their ''[[Out In L.A.]]'' album. Their bassist, [[Flea (musician)|Flea]], is a huge fan of Thelonious Monk. Bass fellow [[Charlie Haden]], who was included in Coltrane's record, played the tune with guitarist [[Jim Hall (musician)|Jim Hall]] in 1990, which appeared on their duo record ''Charlie Haden/Jim Hall'' in 2014.
-[[Keith Jarrett]] played the composition in 1991 together with his "Standard Trio" on their live record ''[[The Cure (Keith Jarrett album)|The Cure]]''. Two years later, in 1993, American jazz trio [[Medeski Martin & Wood]] covered the song with “Lively Up Yourself” by Bob Marley in one track, “Bemsha Swing-Lively Up Yourself,” for their album ''It's a Jungle in Here''. Swedish jazz pianist [[Esbjörn Svensson]] released it on a tribute album to Monk in 1996 called ''EST plays Monk''. They also issued  a live version in their DVD of a Concert at Stockholm in 2002.
-Later on, in 2002, [[jazz fusion]] guitarist [[Larry Coryell]] covered the song from his album ''Cedars of Avalon''.<ref>{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=r608274|pure_url=yes}}|title=Cedars of Avalon overview |work=[[Allmusic|Allmusic.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/review_print.php?id=10713|title=Cedars of Avalon|work=[[All About Jazz]]}}</ref>
-==References==
-{{reflist}}
-{{Thelonious Monk}}
-[[Category:1950s jazz standards]]
-[[Category:Jazz compositions]]
 [[Category:Songs with music by Thelonious Monk]]
-[[Category:Red Hot Chili Peppers songs]]
+[[Category:1952 songs]]
-{{jazz-composition-stub}}