Masao Yagi Plays Thelonious Monk - Masao Yagi (1973) (1LP Vinyl, Japan, 1st press) - Near Mint (NM)

Condition: Used

Media Condition: Near Mint (NM)

Sleeve Condition: Near Mint (NM)

Masao Yagi Plays Thelonious Monk by Masao Yagi.

There is something quietly audacious about a pianist devoting an entire album to the compositions of Thelonious Monk. Monk's music resists imitation; his angular phrasing, his deliberate dissonances, his sense of space that borders on the mischievous all make his songbook a proving ground for anyone bold enough to enter it. Masao Yagi steps in with clear intent, treating these tunes not as museum pieces but as living material to be turned over, examined, and reshaped.

Side A opens with "Rhythm-A-Ning," a natural launch point that lets Yagi announce his approach before he settles into the sly, off-kilter logic of "Off Minor." Then comes "'Round Midnight," perhaps the most beloved ballad in the entire jazz canon, a piece so often played that any pianist has to find something personal within it or risk disappearing into the shadow of its many interpreters. The first side closes with "Misterioso," a study in deliberate intervals and blues feeling that rewards a player willing to lean into its strangeness rather than smooth it away.

Flip the record and the mood carries forward with "Straight No Chaser," one of Monk's most durable blues lines, followed by the deceptively simple "Blue Monk," a tune that sounds easy and plays hard. The pairing gives the second side a rooted, walking pulse before the program turns inward.

"Monk's Mood" arrives as one of the album's most searching moments, a slow and contemplative piece that asks for patience and touch rather than flash. The record then finishes with "Evidence," a composition famous for its sudden stops and starts, its rhythmic riddles built around silence as much as sound. It is a fitting closer, a reminder that Monk's genius lived in the notes he chose to leave out.

Taken as a whole, this is a thoughtfully sequenced tribute, moving between the propulsive and the reflective, the bluesy and the mysterious. Eight compositions, drawn entirely from Monk's own pen, give Yagi a wide canvas across which to demonstrate both his respect for the source and his willingness to make it his own.

For collectors of piano jazz and admirers of Monk in particular, an album like this holds a special appeal. Hearing these familiar themes filtered through another sensibility deepens one's understanding of the originals, illuminating corners of the music that a single interpreter could never reveal alone. Masao Yagi's engagement with this material is both a homage and a conversation, and it stands as a rewarding listen for anyone drawn to the endlessly puzzling, endlessly satisfying world of Thelonious Monk's compositions.

Pressing Details:
Track Listing:
A1. Rhythm-A-Ning
A2. Off Minor
A3. 'Round Midnight
A4. Misterioso
B1. Straight No Chaser
B2. Blue Monk
B3. Monk's Mood
B4. Evidence

Artist: Masao Yagi

Format: 1LP

Genre: Jazz

Label: King Records

Catalog Number: SKK 3015

Release Year: 1973

Country: Japan