Thelonious Monk
Piano Solo on
Ruby, My Dear

About

Thelonious Monk's piano solo is the closing of 2 solos on this recording, following John Coltrane's tenor sax. Spanning half a chorus of the 32-bar AABA form at a ballad tempo of 67 BPM in E♭, the solo runs approximately 1:00. Monk follows with a half-chorus that is quintessentially his own, each note placed with deliberate, almost sculptural precision, the silences between phrases as meaningful as the notes themselves. Thelonious Monk was 39 to 40 years old at the time of this 1957 recording. Ruby, My Dear is a ballad composed by Thelonious Monk, written around 1945 when Monk was still developing his singular compositional voice.

Thelonious Monk was 39 to 40 years old at the time.