Cut + Paste #2: "Talkin’ Ugly Beauty"

short, pithy, and packed with information
clanging seconds and
the first of many profound ruminations

Monk ignores the mistake
something about something but I have no idea what
stop reading this page and go listen to the two takes of “Bag’s Groove”

a beer fell over in the studio
rubato, drummerless, cadenza-filled
certain details are fascinating

like a little kid beating on pots and pans
an organism that radiates correctly and naturally
staying in the ring with Monk, taking the blows

don’t seriously object to the extended performances
remembering how a song goes or fussing with a detail
it’s all very swinging of course

I dismissed a Monk album in such a callous fashion
to really put those kind of engines in action
abstract minimalist reduction to essence

all the way boiled down to the supreme bebop dissonance
encoding a private message
with just tons of space — and that worked, too

these slender details conjure a vast world
“the inside of the tune is the part that makes the outside sound good”
Ugly Beauty, his only waltz


M. Bogen
December 2018 Sampled from Ethan Iverson:
“Thelonious Sphere Monk Centennial: Primary and Secondary Documents”
ethaniverson.com

Read "Cut + Paste #1: John Ashbery