Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk

Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. The album was recorded in Finland and released on October 20, 2017 via Finnish TUM Records label.[6] The album contains five tracks written by Thelonious Monk, and three by Smith.

Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk
Studio album by
Wadada Leo Smith
ReleasedOctober 20, 2017
RecordedNovember 16–17, 2014 and August 8, 2015
StudioStudio M2, Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), Helsinki, Finland
GenreJazz
Length56:30
LabelTUM Records TUM CD 053
ProducerPetri Haussila
Wadada Leo Smith chronology
Najwa
(2017)		 Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk
(2017)		 Lebroba
(2018)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz[2]
Jazz Forum[3]
Mojo[1]
PopMatters5/10[4]
Tom HullB+[5]

Reception

At Metacritic, that assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on four reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Derek Taylor of Dusted Magazine wrote "Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk finds trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith celebrating the life, music and spirit of the individual he feels the greatest kinship to in the cosmology of creative music."[7] Will Layman of PopMatters stated "This is a piece of serious art, and it is an attempt to very deliberately look at the melodies and moods of a master... Reflection and Meditations on Monk is not an indictment of the brilliant Smith, merely confirmation that even a long and brilliant career has its lows."

A reviewer of Dusty Groove commented "Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith never fails to blow us away – and even though he's captured our ear with recent higher-concept projects or other group work, he sounds equally mindblowing here in a completely solo setting! As you'd guess from the title, the set's based around the musical vision of Thelonious Monk – territory not often explored on solo trumpet, and handled beautifully here by Smith – both on his long extrapolations based on Monk's compositions, and on his own tunes dedicated to Monk – which are these bold, brilliant paintings in sound that the legendary pianist would have been proud to hear".[8]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ruby, My Dear"Thelonious Monk9:20
2."Monk and His Five Point Ring at The Five Spot Café"Wadada Leo Smith7:47
3."Reflections"Thelonious Monk7:59
4."Monkishness – A Cinematic Vision of Monk Playing Solo Piano"Wadada Leo Smith3:43
5."Crepuscule with Nellie"Thelonious Monk5:56
6."Monk, The Composer in Sepia – A Second Vision"Thelonious Monk4:38
7."Monk and Bud Powell at Shea Stadium – A Mystery"Wadada Leo Smith8:37
8."'Round Midnight"Thelonious Monk7:37
Total length:56:30

Personnel

Band

  • Wadada Leo Smith – composer, liner notes, trumpet

Production

  • William Gottlieb – photography
  • Jori Grönroos – photography
  • Petri Haussila – photography, producer
  • Miikka Huttunen – mixing
  • Ole Kandelin – artwork
  • Juha Lökström – design
  • Nikopetri Paakkunainen – engineer
  • Esa Santonen – mastering

References
  1. "SOLO: REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS ON MONK by Wadada Leo Smith". Metacritic. metacritic.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  2. Ackermann, Karl (October 10, 2017). "Wadada Leo Smith: Solo: Reflections And Meditations On Monk". All About Jazz. allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  3. Romański, Marek. "Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk - Wadada Leo Smith| Jazz Forum". Jazz Forum. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  4. LAYMAN, WILL (14 December 2017). "Wadada Leo Smith: Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk". PopMatters. popmatters.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  5. "Tom Hull: Grade List: Wadada Leo Smith". Tom Hull. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. "Wadada Leo Smith – Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk". Discogs. discogs.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  7. Taylor, Derek (25 October 2017). "Wadada Leo Smith – Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk (TUM)". Dusted Magazine. dustedmagazine.tumblr.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  8. "Wadada Leo Smith: Solo – Reflections & Meditations On Monk". Dusty Groove. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
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