Thelonious Monk Monk's Music

Brilliant Corners is a studio album by American jazz musician Thelonious Monk. It was his third album for Riverside Records, and the first, for this label, to include his own compositions. The complex title track required over a dozen takes in the studio. The album was recorded in three sessions in late 1956 with two different quintets.

Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane is a 1961 album by Thelonious Monk issued on Jazzland Records, a subsidiary of Riverside Records. It consists of material recorded four years earlier when Monk worked extensively with John Coltrane, issued after Coltrane had become a leader and jazz star in his own right.

Thelonious Monk fans in particular are advised to search for this valuable two-LP set for it contains a variety of unissued material from the pianist/composer's six-year period with Columbia.

The year 2017 will see the centenary of the birth of pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. And although his music was written between the 40s and 60s, it continues to fascinate jazzmen of all generations and all aesthetics. Born of this fascination, Always Know Monk is a kaleidoscopic variation of the repertoire of the composer, repertoire passed to the prism of the many interpretations he has aroused, from Bud Powell to Alexander Von Schlippenbach through Steve Lacy and Paul Motian. The compositions are treated like mobiles, which elements move, mingle, transform, and which unity resides in the force of attraction of the "monkisms" which cross them.

Bill Holman's exploration of ten Thelonious Monk tunes is purposely a lot more Holman than Monk. Rather than trying to re-create the great pianist/composer's piano solos or small-group renditions of his songs, Holman picked out numbers that interested him and then avoided listening to Thelonious' versions. The one trait of Thelonious Monk's that is present throughout these dynamic big-band reinterpretations is the dominance of the themes, which are never far away; otherwise, the music is pure Bill Holman. The charts are sometimes (like Bob Brookmeyer's) influenced by modern classical music; the ensembles are often quite dense, with numerous different activities going on at once – a well-planned traffic jam. Many soloists are heard from, including all five saxophonists (with Perkins on alto and soprano and tenor great Christlieb making the strongest impressions), trumpeters Bob Summers and Ron Stout, and trombonists Andy Martin and Bob Enevoldsen. The individual improvisations are generally backed by complex ensembles and end up very much a part of the arrangements. The overall results (which include such highlights as "Straight No Chaser," "Thelonious," "Friday the 13th," and "Brilliant Corners") end up giving listeners a very different look at the music of Thelonious Monk, and are on the whole a major milestone in the career of Bill Holman.~Scott Yanow

"Solo Monk" is the eighth album Thelonious Monk originally released for Columbia Records in 1965. The album is composed entirely of solo piano work by Monk. The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek states "This is perhaps the solo piano record to have by Monk". In addition to various vinyl and CD issues, Sony Music issued an SACD in Japan.

The position of legendary figure is usually reserved for a deceased musician who has played two decades before. It usually requires this posthumous status and span of time, for the various stories concerning him to grow into a legend but it took a very much alive Thelonious Monk only five years to surround himself with an air of mystery and receive the title “High Priest of Bebop” in the Forties.

Monk without a Piano, played by a trio of alto sax, double bass and drums: One cannot adapt the music of the grand master with more dauntlessness. But Kubic’s Monk convinces as a real jazz record! 'This album is a wonderful tribute to the music of Thelonious Sphere Monk. Pierrick and his band put a fresh treatment on these classics; rhythmically vital and brimming with fresh young energy and ideas. Highly recommended!' Phil Woods

Among Thelonious Monk's brilliant musical associations, the one with tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin sometimes gets overlooked. This 1958 recording catches the quartet with bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik and drummer Roy Haynes on its home turf, New York's Five Spot Cafe. Griffin's gruffly compressed sound and high-speed, coiling lines are a fine foil for Monk's spare and pointed comping, bringing a distinct and special intensity to Monk's music. Together the group turns in classic renditions of familiar Monk tunes, including a brilliant Griffin performance of "Blue Monk".