This morning before leaving the house, instead of uploading podcasts onto my Ipod Shuffle for the daily metro commute, I opted for two Jazz albums dedicated to Thelonious Monk compositions that I had acquired earlier this year: Reflections: Steve Lacy Plays Thelonious Monk recorded in 1958 and Anthony Braxton’s 1987 Six Monk Compositions.
While listening in shuffle mode on the metro on both legs of my commute, I was really digging the pianists but couldn’t identify who they were and couldn’t recall who had been the sidemen for either recording. Just now I checked, and much to my surprise, both albums share the same pianist and bassist, Mal Waldron and Buell Neidlinger respectively, with almost 30 years separating the two recording dates. Also, both albums share the same following compositions: Reflections, Four in One, Ask Me Now, and Skippy. Ask Me Now, fantastic all around. I had not picked up on any of these facts at all when I purchased the two albums, coincidentally at the same time: 52 and 23 years respectively after each was recorded.
Grave Error 