Monk Riverside

Thelonious Monk - The Complete Riverside Recordings (1988) {15CD Riverside Victor Japan VDJ-25010~24 rec 1955-1961}
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© 1955-61, 1988 Riverside / Fantasy / Victor Japan | VDJ-25010~24
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano

The studio and live recording sessions that Thelonious Monk cut during his six-year stay at the Riverside label are compiled over the 15 discs in the Complete Riverside Recordings. This middle era – between his early sides for Prestige and the final ones for Columbia – is generally considered Monk's most ingenious and creative period. The sessions are presented in chronological order, accurately charting the progression and diversions of one of the most genuinely enigmatic figures in popular music. The Complete Riverside Recordings explores Monk's genius with a certain degree of real-time analysis that simply listening to each of the individual albums from this era lacks.

Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners (1956) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #16of27)
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© 1956, 2008 Concord / Riverside | 0888072305014
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

Orrin Keepnews' commentary (from the new liner notes): “This album was actually one of the major factors in the successful battle to win new and wider acceptance for Monk. In the sequence of his Riverside discography, it followed two initial albums devoted entirely to 'standards' and offered the first occasion on this label for Thelonious to express himself basically through his own writing. Creating music for five instrumental voices in terms of his personal and unorthodox construction, approach and phrasing, he produced some startlingly brilliant examples of the great depth, wit, and strength of his style.”

Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself (1957) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #24of27)
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© 1957, 2008 Concord / Riverside | 0888072305106
Jazz / Bop / Piano

Orrin Keepnews' commentary (from his new liner notes): "This, you might say, is an album of undiluted Monk. Like most generalizations, that wouldbe putting things a bit too simply, but the core of truth is there. For, with the deliberate exceptionof the final selection, this is literally Thelonious Himself—Monk, alone in the recording studio, offering highly personal versions of some standards and some of his own tunes.

Despite various reissue formats over several decades, the seven original LPs contained in Thelonious Monk - The Riverside Tenor Sessions stood perfectly well on their own at the time of initial release and remain among the highest achievements of a truly golden age. Recorded and released between 1956 and 1961, these seven Monk combo albums were critical in Monk's emergence from a decade of ridicule and neglect to his status at the pinnacle of the jazz pantheon. In addition to some of his best recorded piano performances and more than two dozen of his profoundly personal compositions, these albums provide an overview of the era's major tenor saxophonists, with contributions by Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse and Harold Land…

Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington (1955) {2007 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #1of27)
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© 1955, 2007 Concord / Riverside | 0888072301283
Jazz / Bop / Piano

Remastered in 24-bit from the original master tapes. Part of our Keepnews Collection, which spotlights classic albums originally produced by the legendary Orrin Keepnews. For Monk’s debut Riverside date, Keepnews decided to ease the pianist into what turned out to be his lengthy association with the label by asking him to momentarily set aside his own compositions and instead play Duke Ellington tunes. He did so in the company of the esteemed rhythm section of bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke. With his distinctively angular style, Monk nails Ellington’s best-known tunes such as “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Mood Indigo” and “Caravan.”

The Thelonious Monk Orchestra - At Town Hall (1959) {2007 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #14of27)
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© 1959, 2007 Concord / Riverside | 0888072301900
Jazz / Bop / Progressive Jazz / Piano

Remastered in 24-bit from the original master tapes. Part of our Keepnews Collection, which spotlights classic albums originally produced by the legendary and arguably the most respected of all jazz producers, Orrin Keepnews.

Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Alone In San Francisco (1959) {OJC Remasters Complete Series rel 2011, item 20of33}
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© 1959, 2011 Riverside / Concord | 0888072328440
Jazz / Bop / Modal Music / Piano

An extension of the popular Original Jazz Classics series (est. 1982), the new OJC Remasters releases reveal the sonic benefits of 24-bit remastering-a technology that didn't exist when these titles were originally issued on compact disc. The addition of newly-written liner notes further enhances the illuminating quality of the OJC Remasters reissues. "Each of the recordings in this series is an all-time jazz classic," says Nick Phillips, Vice President of Jazz and Catalog A&R at Concord Music Group and producer of the series.

Clark Terry with Thelonious Monk - In Orbit (1958) {Riverside OJCCD-302-2 rel 1987}
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© 1958, 1987 Riverside / Fantasy / ZYX Music | OJCCD-302-2
Jazz / Bop / Flugelhorn / Piano

Thelonious Monk, in addition to all his other notable qualities, was actually one of Riverside's most valuable talent scouts, recommending such mainstays as Johnny Griffin and Wilbur Ware, and introducing the label to Sonny Rollins and Clark Terry. The astoundingly adept trumpeter was always greatly appreciated by Thelonious, who quickly accepted the invitation to accompany Terry on this occasion. It was an album full of firsts and rarities: Monk's only Riverside appearance as a sideman; the first of Terry's many recordings on flugelhorn; the first of a great many Riverside dates for the great bassist Sam Jones; and the only occasion on which Monk and drummer Philly Joe Jones recorded together.

Thelonious Monk & Gerry Mulligan - Mulligan Meets Monk (1957) {OJC Remasters Complete Series rel 2013, item 24of33}
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© 1957, 2013 Riverside / Concord | 60th Anniversary of Riverside Records | 0888072345904
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Saxophone / Piano

Concord Music Group will release five new titles in its Original Jazz Classics Remasters series. Enhanced by 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, several bonus tracks on nearly each disc (some previously unreleased) and new liner notes providing historical context to the original material, the series celebrates the 60th anniversary of Riverside Records, the prolific New York-based label that showcased some of the most influential jazz artists and recordings of the 1950s and '60s.

Thelonious Monk - In Italy (1961) {Riverside OJCCD-488-2 rel 2006}
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© 1961, 2006 Riverside Records / Fantasy / Universal | OJCCD-488-2 / 00025218648820
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Piano

Pianist-composer Thelonious Monk's final Riverside recording before signing with Columbia was cut during a concert in Italy, part of an extensive European tour that also resulted in recordings from Paris three days earlier. All eight of the songs (which include "Straight No Chaser," "Bemsha Swing," and "Rhythm-A-Ning") had been recorded in more definitive fashion earlier and, although Monk and his tenor Charlie Rouse sound fine, the bass and drum solos of bassist John Ore and drummer Frankie Dunlop on practically every song are consistently dull and unimaginative. This is not one of Monk's more significant dates, but his fans will still find moments to enjoy.