Sunday, December 10, 2006

Thelonious Monk: Dinah and I Surrender, Dear [1965]

I happened to pass by Minton's Playhouse in a cab yesterday. I had no idea this place still existed; apparently it just reopened in May after a 32 year hiatus. Anyway, Thelonious was the house pianist at Minton's in the '40s, and so in celebration of Thelonious and of Minton's here are a couple tracks from the classic Solo Monk LP.

"Dinah" was written by Harry Akst, Sam Lewis, and Joe Young in 1925. It was a hit for Ethel Waters in 1926, before my mother was born.

"I Surrender, Dear" was written by Harry Barris and Gordon Clifford in 1931, and performed by Bing Crosby in a movie of the same name.

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