Career Monk

Recorded live in Tokyo, this LP captures the quartet on their first Asian tour, performing mostly Thelonious Monk's own tunes, such as "Straight, No Chaser," "Blue Monk," and "Bemsha Swing." The Japanese audience reacts enthusiastically, with the quartet responding in kind with a generally inspired performance. There are few, if any, surprises - just solid playing and delightfully swinging, and at times hard-hitting, group and individual performances. While this may have been an average night for Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Monk seems invigorated by the setting, putting forth a strong effort with exciting results…

With his odd rhythmic spacing, discordant resolves and his circular yet angular compositional style, Thelonious Monk remains one of the most singular figures in all of jazz, and virtually every one of his recordings is as enigmatic as the pianist himself was. This set combines his five albums for Columbia Records, 1962's Criss Cross and Monk's Dream, 1964's Solo Monk, 1966's Straight, No Chaser, and 1967's Underground, in a single package, and anyone thinking Monk wasn't as vital during those years really needs to hear this stuff. It's classic Monk, and this collection is a great way to get it in a single swoop.

Thelonious Monk, in full Thelonious Sphere Monk (born Oct. 10, 1917, Rocky Mount, N.C., U.S. - died Feb. 17, 1982, Englewood, N.J.) American pianist and composer who was among the first creators of modern jazz. As the pianist in the band at Minton’s Playhouse, a nightclub in New York City, in the early 1940s, Monk had great influence on the other musicians who later developed the bebop movement. For much of his career, Monk performed and recorded with small groups. His playing was percussive and sparse, often being described as “angular,” and he used complex and dissonant harmonies and unusual intervals. A collection of some of the most remarkable recordings which laid the foundation of modern jazz and unfluenced generations of other musicians. The vast majority of these recordings became popular standards.

Thelonious Monk Quartet - Misterioso (1958) {OJC Remasters Complete Series rel 2012, item 23of33}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 503 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 147 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1958, 2012 Riverside / Concord | 0888072337251
Jazz / Bop / Post Bop / Piano

Concord Music Group releases three new titles in its Original Jazz Classics Remasters series. Enhanced with 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, bonus tracks on each release (some previously unissued), and new liner notes to provide historical context to the originally released material, the series showcases pivotal recordings of the past several decades by artists whose influence on the jazz tradition continues to reverberate among jazz musicians and audiences well into the 21st Century.

Thelonious Monk played at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1963 and created a buzz so strong he was invited back the following year. His one-hour set from 1964 is available here, featuring his quartet through the first forty minutes. Tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse and drummer Ben Riley are joined by Steve Swallow on upright acoustic bass loaned from the Art Farmer group, whom he performed with at the event. Having studied Monk's music and played it with Steve Lacy, Swallow was ready to jump into the fray for his first-ever performance with Monk, having not even spoken with the pianist up to show time. He sounds very comfortable, swinging effortlessly, playing mostly quarter notes throughout the concert, but rarely straying off the path…

This release has long been considered Thelonious Monk's acknowledgement to the flourishing youth-oriented subculture from whence the collection takes its name. Certainly the Grammy-winning cover art - which depicts Monk as a World War II French revolutionary toting an automatic weapon - gave the establishment more than the brilliant swinging sounds in the grooves to consider. Underground became Monk's penultimate studio album, as well as the final release to feature the '60s quartet: Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Ben Riley (drums), and Larry Gales (bass) behind Monk (piano). One of the motifs running throughout Monk's recording career is the revisitation of titles from his voluminous back catalog. The tradition continues with the autobiographical leadoff track, "Thelonious"…