Podcast 300: "Straight, No Chaser"

This is the 300th podcast for my show! It hardly seems possible that when I started eight years ago I would have this much to show for it, and over 1.1 million downloads from around the world. To celebrate, I thought I would take a moment to examine the song from which the blog takes its title - "Straight, No Chaser" by Thelonious Monk. The tune was originally recorded by Monk for Blue Note Records in 1951, and was written as a basic 12 bar blues in B flat. Much of its longevity comes from the creative use of chromatics in the melody, and syncopation in the rhythms. Music educator Mark C. Gridley wrote about Monk's composition style: "Monk employed simple compositional devices with very original results. His ‘Straight, No Chaser’ involves basically only one idea played again and again, each time in a different part of the measure and with a different ending." Click here to listen to a few of my favorite versions of the song, including takes from the following albums: Gerry Mulligan and Thelonious Monk – Mulligan Meets Monk. Miles Davis – Milestones. Marian McPartland – Bossa Nova + Soul. Larry Coryell – Laid Back and Blues. Ben Sidran Hammond Quartet – Cien Noches. Jane Ira Bloom – Art and Aviation. Keith Jarrett – The Complete Live at the Blue Note.  Bill Evans – What’s New – Bill Evans with the Flutists.