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#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]]. |
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==Composition== |
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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 4-bar melody is essentially in C major but borrows tones from the parallel C minor scale, and is transposed up a fourth to create the B section of the form. Thelonious Monk and Denzil Best wrote “Bemsha Swing” in 1952, with the copyright application showing the title as “Bimsha Swing”. The word Bemsha is a re-spelling of "Bimshire", a nickname for Barbados, Denzil Best’s family home. <ref>{{cite web |url=http://kuvo.org/post/bemsha-swing-stories-standards#stream/0 |title=Bemsha Swing: Stories of Standards |last=Hillshafer |first=Linda |date=15 Aug 2016 |website=kuvo.org |access-date=22 Nov 2017}} |
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</ref> |
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==Recording history== |
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The song was first recorded by Monk on the sessions for the album ''[[Thelonious Monk Trio]]'' in 1952. In 1954, it was recorded by [[Miles Davis]] with Monk as a sideman, for an 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]]''. |
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Bemsha Swing was recorded by many other New York jazz musicians. 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]], the drummer on that session, revisited the track with Cherry on their duo record ''[[El Corazón (Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell album)|El Corazón]]'' in 1982. Cherry recalled the tune again on his 1989 ''[[Art Deco (album)|Art Deco]]''. |
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In 1963 [[Bill Evans]] released a piano solo interpretation on his acclaimed record ''[[Conversations with Myself (album)|Conversations with Myself]]''. Slightly more than two decades 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]]. |
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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. |
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[[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. |
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Later on, in 2002, [[jazz fusion]] guitarist [[Larry Coryell]] covered the song on 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]]|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041106101518/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/review_print.php?id=10713|archivedate=2004-11-06|df=}}</ref> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{Thelonious Monk}} |
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[[Category:1950s jazz standards]] |
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[[Category:Jazz compositions]] |
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[[Category:Songs with music by Thelonious Monk]] |
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[[Category:Red Hot Chili Peppers songs]] |
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{{1950s-jazz-composition-stub}} |