John Cratchley
First,the music of John Coltrane...then the music of Ornette Coleman (RIP) and now the music of Thelonious Sphere Monk (Noel says that Monk's wife,Nelly,used to call him "Melodious Tongue"...hence the title).
Strangely,I have stopped thinking of Noel as a musician (odd,I know)...I now tend to think of him in the same breath as Monet or Cezanne...an impressionist without peer,an artist who works in the moment,makes his statement and then moves on...always moving on...it isn't so much the music of Monk that is important here (although I think he was both the greatest jazz composer and interpreter...a matter of personal taste) but Noel's 'interpretation' of it...just like Monet's water lilies or Cezanne's mountainscapes...it's the quality of the aural brushstrokes and the arrangement of sonic space that I truly admire...
