2017 was the 100th anniversary year of Thelonious Monk's birth. Before the year, Miho hazama proposed to Metropole Orkest to hold concerts to play Thelonious Monk when she visited Metropole in September 2016, and recognized need for reasonable planning after the discussion with the producer. Under the condition of neither relationship with Monk's family nor involvement of American players, she proposed a tribute plan which includes orchestration of originally piano solo tracks and providing opportunity of make possible to compare among different arrangers, Bill Holman, Oliver Nelson and Miho. The plan was approved and concerts were held at four cities in Netherlands.[1] Although arrangements by other arrangers were played at the concerts, they are not included in this album.[5]
Regards to tribute jazz album, Metropole Orkest had experience of Better Get Hit In Your Soul: A Tribute To the Music of Charles Mingus which was recorded in 2009, and released in 2012.[6]
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