Music Review - "Caravan"

CD Review


The song that I chose to compare with two other keyboard players is the famous jazz standard “Caravan” as played by the father of jazz composition, Duke Ellington. However, Ellington did not compose this piece; Juan Tizol (1900-1984) composed the song in 1937 while with Duke Ellington.

Caravan opens with the traditional Duke Ellington piano ostinato while a trombone solo introduces the melody. The style is definitely that of the 1940’s, swing. A clarinet solo introduces the new melody in the “B” section of the song. It continues with the piano accompaniment with solos re-introducing the melody.



Source: Naxos online, Duke Ellington: Black, Brown and Beige (1943-1945) (Duke Ellington, Volume 9)



The second version is Thelonious Monk’s rendition of Caravan. Surprisingly enough, Monk actually starts by playing the melody after a short drum intro and a short classic Monk piano intro which immediately has you wondering, okay, is this really Caravan? At that point, he goes into recognizable melody. The middle section does go into swing like the original, then to the latin style, then back to swing where Monk goes into his improvisation. A bass solo follows Monk’s improvisation, there is a little more improvisation and then Monk re-introduces the melody to the end. The ending is not just any ending, it is a Monk ending; two hard struck chords that sound unresolved. This is a great interpretation.



Source: Itunes store, album, The Best of Thelonious Monk (remastered)



The final version is that of Dave Grusin. It starts off with a very contemporary introduction played on the piano, followed by the drums playing the original Caravan drum rhythm to a crescendo, which leads to a fragmented variation on the original melody, with a heavy percussion accompaniment. At this point the song goes into a fast swing and then back to the latin feel, again returning to a fast swing. After a bass solo, Dave Grusin takes the song to a half-time feel, then back to a fast swing. Caravan ends with a recapitulation of the introduction. This is quite the contemporary version in comparison with the other two.



Source: Dave Grusin, Homage to Duke, GRP Records.

Posted by Wayne at 7:49 PM 0 comments