Drummer Steve Smith Performs Thelonious Monk's "Brilliant Corners"

"Brilliant Corners" is one of Thelonious Monk's most challenging compositions to perform. Reports say that Monk's original recording of the song took over a dozen takes and ultimately producer Orrin Keepnews had to edit together the version that appears on the Monk album called BRILLIANT CORNERS. The band that recorded the original version of "Brilliant Corners" was Monk on piano, Sonny Rollins and Ernie Henry on saxes, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Max Roach on drums.

The song has an unusual form: the A section is 8 bars long (with some tricky triplet rhythms), the B section is 7 bars long, and when returning to the A, and take the 1st ending, that is 7 bars long. Then the entire ABA form is repeated in double time; altogether that is one-time through the song! On the original recording the performers solo over the form, including drummer Max Roach who plays a masterful solo over the unusual form.

The group "The Misterioso Quartet" was organized by music impresario Milan Simich in order to play the music of Thelonious Monk at The Birdland Theater in NYC. Guitarist Steve Cardenas is an authority on Monk's music having transcribed and co-written the Thelonious Monk Fake Book: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/thelonious-monk-fake-book-c-edition_steve-cardenas_don-sickler/814247/#edition=2554541&idiq=10615473

Bassist Ben Allison has played Monk's music often and has most of the music committed to memory. Trumpeter Tim Hagans has also played Monk's music many times over his long career. I have played some of Monk's music over the years but in order to prepare for the week at Birdland with the "The Misterioso Quartet," I had to do a deep dive into Monk's compositions, as I had not played most of the tunes chosen for us to play by Milan Simich. "Brilliant Corners" is one such tune! We all take our solos over the challenging form, and the results can be heard, and seen, in this excellent video edited by Christian Grassart!

Steve Smith’s Zildjian cymbals: 14” Avedis Hi-Hats, 20” K Mini-Bell, 21” Staccato Ride (main ride) plus a 20” Complex II Ride (far right).
Drums: Sonor Steve Smith 30th Anniversary kit, REMO heads, VF sticks, DW 5000 Pedals, Cympad Cymbal Optimizers.

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