MONK'S "'ROUND MIDNIGHT" ON TELECASTER

Here's a video of me playing a solo arrangement of Thelonious Monk's classic "Round Midnight". It's a little better played than the other version on the other blog, but this one is compressed a different way, quality slightly less, and plus I cut off because I couldn't decide where to go next. Otherwise, it's stronger-- this is the version I'll watch more when I'm preparing for the recording session coming up.

It's a mishmash of different sounds and influences-- There's a very lowbudget Ted Greene/Joe Pass counterpoint that crops up occasionally, but as you can hear I don't have the bass line developed. It's mostly just some roots here and there. I'm trying to make up for it by using Joe Pass's dictum that you should tap your foot when you play solo, because it really needs to swing all the time. Monk's advice to Steve Lacy, (and probably many others) was, "When you're swinging, swing some more." I'm trying to! I think this version, in spite of its flaws, swings more than the other one.

I also like the slightly dirty, but still brittle and trebly sound. It reminds me a little of some of the sounds on Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" album. I got this sound by setting a Tube Screamer with no gain along with a Blues Driver, also no gain. (Also, a Z. Vex Super Duper Two-in-one.) The Tube Screamer can't really give you a completely clean sound, although the Blues Driver can, so together you get a little trash, a little twang. A nice combination-- whether you really need the Rube Goldberg pedal setup to get it, I don't know. Probably the amp turned up could get it, but I'm glad I don't have to turn up that loud. It allows me to keep the underground sound laboratory humming along by day, even though it's a residential neighborhood. (Essentially, if you're just willing to spend about 650 dollars on pedals, you can get this sound with your Fender Deluxe Reverb amp on two instead of four or five.)