Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke, music · First recorded by Cootie Williams's orchestra in 1942 as Fly Right
Epistrophy
Thelonious Monk and drummer Kenny Clarke wrote Epistrophy, and Monk copyrighted it in 1941. Its title is a speech term for repeating a word at the end of phrase after phrase. Monk closed his sets with it, and records run from Cootie Williams in 1942 to Bill Frisell in 2016.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the first recording, by Cootie Williams's big band in 1942, then hears the tune with its co-writer Kenny Clarke's group, with Monk himself and with Bud Powell's trio. It goes on to Monk's 1957 seven-piece band and 1960 club quartet, a band led by drummer Art Taylor, and two tenor saxophonists at Minton's Playhouse in 1961.
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin Quintet1961 · Bebop
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Cootie Williams and His Orchestra · 1942
“Fly Right (Epistrophy)”, Presenting Cootie Williams
According to Wikipedia, Cootie Williams's orchestra made the first recording of Epistrophy on April 1, 1942, in Chicago, under the title Fly Right. Okeh left that take unissued, and it later came out on reissues.
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A full big band plays the tune, with trumpets, trombones and saxophones all in the mix. The record runs about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the ( 1 to 8) slowly: and share each bar for four bars, then and share each bar for four bars. If seventh are new to you, play only the root notes D♭, D, E♭ and E in that order.
Kenny Clarke, who co-wrote the tune, led this band in New York on September 5, 1946, with Fats Navarro and Kenny Dorham on trumpets and Bud Powell on piano. RCA Victor issued it on the single 20-3144.
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Two trumpets, Fats Navarro and Kenny Dorham, play with three saxophones, a guitar and Clarke on drums. The record runs under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the ( 9 to 16): and share each bar for four bars, then and share each bar for four bars. B comes round twice in one , so learning it once covers two sections.
Monk first recorded his own tune on July 2, 1948, at Apex Studios in New York, with Milt Jackson on vibes. Blue Note issued it that year on a single, Blue Note 548, paired with In Walked Bud.
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Milt Jackson's vibes sit beside Monk's piano, with bass and drums behind them. The record runs just over three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the ( 17 to 24), the part that sounds different from the rest: for four bars, for two bars, then in bar 23 and in bar 24. Smaller version: play only the root notes F♯, B, D♭ and D.
Bud Powell, who played piano on Clarke's 1946 record, recorded the tune with a trio in New York on January 13, 1955, with Clarke himself on drums. Verve issued it in 1959 on The Lonely One...
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Powell's piano takes the lead, with Percy Heath on bass and Clarke, the tune's co-writer, on drums. The track runs about three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole form, A, B, C, B, eight each, with one per bar (the first chord of any bar that has two). Count the sections aloud so you know which one you are in.
Monk led a seven-piece band with Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane on tenor saxophones at Reeves Sound Studios in New York on June 25 and 26, 1957. Riverside issued the session as Monk's Music.
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A trumpet, an alto saxophone and two tenor saxophones, played by Hawkins and Coltrane, join Monk's piano, bass and drums. At over ten minutes, it is the longest version on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Walk the roots of the on a bass or with your left hand, two beats on each note: D♭ then D for four , then E♭ then E for four bars. Keep going through all 32 bars for one .
“Epistrophy (Live At The Blackhawk / 1960)”, The Complete Riverside Recordings
Monk's quartet, with Joe Gordon on trumpet and Harold Land on tenor saxophone as guests, played this live set at the Blackhawk in San Francisco on April 29, 1960. According to Wikipedia, Epistrophy was the closing tune of Monk's sets from his Minton's Playhouse days onward.
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Two tenor saxophonists, Charlie Rouse and Harold Land, play with trumpeter Joe Gordon, all recorded live in a club. The track runs about six and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the ( 1 to 8) until the slide from to and from to feels steady, then add the (bars 9 to 16). Smaller version: play only the root notes.
Drummer Art Taylor led this session at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on August 6, 1960, with Dave Burns on trumpet, Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone and Carlos Valdes on congas. Blue Note issued it in March 1961 as A.T.'s Delight.
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Congas join the drums, bass and piano, and a trumpet and a tenor saxophone play the tune together. The track runs close to seven minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the ( 1 to 8) while tapping your foot on every beat, and change on beats 1 and 3 of each bar: then for four bars, then for four bars.
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin Quintet · 1961 · Bebop
“Epistrophy (Live At Minton's Playhouse)”, Live at Minton's
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin led a quintet at Minton's Playhouse in New York on January 6, 1961, the club where Monk had been house pianist with Kenny Clarke in the early 1940s. Prestige Records issued the set as Live at Minton's.
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Two tenor saxophones, Davis and Griffin, lead a quintet with piano, bass and drums, recorded live. The track runs over seven minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Pick one pair from the , then , and play two notes of your own over each, two beats apiece. Soloing over all 32 takes more practice, so start with this one four-bar loop.
Monk and Kenny Clarke wrote the tune, and Monk copyrighted it in 1941. Cootie Williams's big band made the first recording in 1942, Clarke's group recorded it in 1946, and Monk's quartet with Milt Jackson followed in 1948.
1950s
Bud Powell records it in a piano trio in 1955, with Clarke on drums. In 1957 Monk's seven-piece band, with Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane on tenor saxophones, records a version of more than ten minutes for Monk's Music.
1960s
Monk's quartet plays it at the Blackhawk in San Francisco in 1960 and in Tokyo in 1963. Art Taylor's band, two tenor saxophonists at Minton's Playhouse and Eric Dolphy's quartet in the Netherlands also record it.
1980s
The Lounge Lizards, led by saxophonist John Lurie, record it in New York in July 1980 for their first album.
2010s
Guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan play it live at the Village Vanguard in 2016. ECM releases the recording in 2019 on an album named Epistrophy.
More great versions
3 more, from 1963 to 2016. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sThelonious Monk Quartet1963 · Bebop
1970s
1980sThe Lounge Lizards1980 · Avant-garde
1990s
2000s
2010sBill Frisell and Thomas Morgan2016 · Contemporary jazz
“Epistrophy (Live at the Village Vanguard, New York, NY, 2016)”, Epistrophy
Guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan played the tune live at the Village Vanguard in New York in 2016. ECM released the recording in April 2019 on an album named Epistrophy.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
D♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · B · C · B form
D♭ major → F♯ minor → D♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
C8 bars
B8 bars
D♭
F♯ m
D♭
Four sections run A, B, C, B. In A, and share each bar for four bars, then and share each bar for four bars. B starts on E♭7 and E7 for four bars, then goes back to D♭7 and D7 for four bars. C is the contrast: for four bars, for two, then D♭7 in bar 23 and D7 in bar 24. B then returns to close the form. The follow the iReal Pro chart; players often vary them.