What’s In a Name?

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Some jazz titles make me smile. Or laugh. Or think, “Huh”? Some sound cool. Or tell a story. Some are a mouthful. For example, Charles Mingus’ “All the Things You Could Be By Now if Sigmund Freud’s Wife Was Your Mother” is both a mouthful and must have a story.

Some of my favorite titles come from Thelonious Monk. They seem to fit his music: Quirky. Angular. Innovative. Offbeat. Playful. Atonal. Sentimental. So much is wrapped into his music!

Here are a few of my favorite titles:

“Brilliant Corners,” first recorded in 1956 on Riverside.

An adjective and a verb, but when you put them together, you get . . . a corner that’s brilliant? A geometry lesson? A meaningful street corner? I don’t know, but it’s a brilliant title for a brilliant tune.

--“Brilliant Corners” took 25 takes and was completed by splicing together parts of different takes. The only other time the song was recorded was in 1968 on “Monk’s Blues.” This big band album was arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson. It featured the Monk quartet plus some Hollywood studio musicians.

“Bemsha Swing,” first recorded in 1952 on Prestige

Who knows what a bemsha is, but it swings! But in a very Monk way. It swings back and forth but also up and down and sideways. It keeps your feet tapping and the tempo changing. Maybe we can just say it swings in concentric circles.

--The song was written along with drummer Denzil Best, whose family came from Barbados, and the song honors this country. “Bimshire” is a nickname for Barbados, and somehow Bimshire became Bemsha. The song was first titled “Bimsha Swing.”

“Crepuscule with Nellie,” first recorded in 1957 on Riverside

Just because crepuscule is such a nice word for “twilight.” And one with Nellie (Monk’s wife) would be special.

--According to biographer Robin D. G. Kelley, “He [Monk] conceived of it [Crepuscule with Nellie] as a through-composed piece—there would be no improvisation, no variation, just a concise arrangement.”

“Well, You Needn’t,” first recorded in 1947 on Blue Note

It’s the comma! That’s what makes this title for me—the suggested thoughtful pause. I like to imagine that someone was thinking this phrase when drummer Ben Riley smacks the rim—bap bap bap bap!—at the end of Monk’s solo and right before bassist Larry Gales starts his solo (at least on a recording I have), but offhand I’d say, “Well, yes, you need it.”

-- The original title was “You Need ‘Na.” Monk changed the title to “Well, You Needn’t” a few years later due to copyright considerations.

--The recording referred to is from “Misterioso (Recorded on Tour).” This song was recorded at Brandeis University in 1965.

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Kelley, Robin D. G. Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original. New York: Free Press, 2009.

Monk’s Blues. Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/372186-thelonious-sphere-monk-monks-blues. Retrieved 13:19, July 21, 2026.

Wikipedia contributors. (2025, December 27). Monk's Blues. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:15, July 21, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monk%27s_Blues&oldid=1329707463.