– Thelonious Sphere Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk - Monk's Blues (1968) {Columbia CK53581 rel 1994}
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© 1968, 1994 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | CK 53581
Jazz / Bop / Post Bebop / Modal Jazz / Piano

Thelonious Monk meets the mighty Oliver Nelson – the hip bigger band arranger who was helping so many other artists find their groove back in the 60s! The result is less Nelson-led than some of Oliver's other albums of the time – and instead, the arranger is nicely respectful of Monk's core sound – and still manages to led Thelonious keep the frontline strong on piano, and work with familiar players are the core who include Charlie Rouse on tenor, Larry Gales on bass, and Ben Riley on drums. Nelson's touch seeks mostly to augment the Monkish lines with some larger horn shadings – sometimes a bit upbeat, but never more swinging than Monk might want. There's enough of a blue tone here to keep this one nicely in line with the rest of the 60s Columbia catalog for Thelonious – and titles include "Monk's Point", "Consecutive Seconds", "Let's Cool One", and "Rootie Tootie". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Blue Monk" and "Round Midnight".

Art Ensemble of Chicago with Cecil Taylor - Thelonious Sphere Monk (1991) [MP3] {DIW-846}
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© 1991 DIW / Disk Union Japan | DIW-846
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative

Here, a grand convergence of sound sorcerors. From the American Midwest comes The Art Ensemble Of Chicago (trumpeter Lester Bowie, saxophonists Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell, bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut, and percussionist Famoudou Don Moye), representing the pan-idiomatic forces and open mysteries nurturing the Jazz avant garde -and so much more- into the here and now. From the American Northeast comes guest Cecil Taylor, grandmaster of the acoustic piano and a principal purveyor of that very avant garde for a good half-century going strong. The result, this early 1990 tribute to/extension of the legacies established by the legendary Thelonious Monk, is a towering achievement.

Milt Jackson - Memories Of Thelonious Sphere Monk (1982) {Pablo OJCCD-851-2 rel 1995}
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© 1982, 1995 Pablo Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-851-2
Jazz / Bebop / Mainstream Jazz / Post Bop / Vibes

Milt Jackson and his quartet of 1982 (with pianist Monty Alexander, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Mickey Roker) recorded three albums of material during an engagement at Ronnie Scott's Club in London. Pianist/composer Thelonious Monk had passed away two months earlier and Jackson decided to pay tribute to his old associate. The vibraphonist is in excellent form on four of Monk's standards in addition to a lengthy "Django," his own "Think Positive" and Ray Brown's "Blues for Groundhog."