Monk image by cliff1066™ via Flickr
At the risk of permanent earworm from the melody, I've been listening to various versions of Thelonious Monk's Let's Cool One:
First recorded in on May 30, 1952 (Blue Note 1602, 1511), it was probably given that name because it is a relaxed, medium tempo tune without a lot of intervallic leaps. The songs recorded just prior to “Let’s Cool One” were complex, up tempo tunes like “Skippy” (three takes) “Hornin’ In” (two takes), and “Sixteen” (two takes), which apparently required a lot more work-even from a band made up of bebop’s top musicians. “Let’s Cool One” was done in one take. Soesja Citroen added lyrics and recorded it as Come With Me.
Parts of the melody make me feel like levitating.
rdio has twenty or so versions. David Luebbert has the chord changes.
The version with Monk and with Johnny Griffin on tenor saxophone from the Five Spot Cafe may be best. Fred Hersch has the most non-Monkish performance.
YouTube:
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