A pair of classic live albums! First up is Thelonious Monk Orchestra At Town Hall – a unique large group effort from Thelonious Monk – but one that bristles with all the angular energy of his other great work for Riverside! The group here is a tentet – filled with excellent players who include Donald Byrd, Phil Woods, Pepper Adams, Eddie Bert, Robert Northern, and Charlie Rouse – all supported by rhythm from the team of Sam Jones on bass and Art Taylor on drums, possibly one of the key factors for the success of the record! The album's comprised of Monk classics like "Little Rootie Tootie", "Thelonious", "Friday The 13th", "Off Minor", "Crepuscule with Nellie" and "Monk's Mood" – all arranged by Hall Overton, a little-remembered modernist from the 50s, but one with a keen dedication towards pushing new sounds from old formats! Overton really keeps the spirit of Monk's music intact here – penning charts that allow for plenty of solo space and the kind of cross-trading lines you'd hear in some of Monk's best multi-horn small group sides for Riverside! Next is Thelonious Monk Quartet Plus Two At The Blackhawk – a stunning pre-Columbia session from Thelonious Monk – a really great live date that has Monk's familiar quartet augmented by west coast players Joe Gordon on trumpet and Harold Land on tenor! Given that Charlie Rouse is already in the group on tenor, the addition of Land's horn makes for a very soulful set – and Gordon's one of those players we love whenever we get a chance to hear him on record, which isn't that often, given how few sessions he cut! Other players include John Ore on bass and Billy Higgins on drums – and titles include "Four In One", "Let's Call This", and "Worry Later". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning pre-Columbia session from Thelonious Monk – a really great live date that has Monk's familiar quartet augmented by west coast players Joe Gordon on trumpet and Harold Land on tenor! Given that Charlie Rouse is already in the group on tenor, the addition of Land's horn makes for a very soulful set – and Gordon's one of those players we love whenever we get a chance to hear him on record, which isn't that often, given how few sessions he cut! Other players include John Ore on bass and Billy Higgins on drums – and titles include "Four In One", "Let's Call This", and "Worry Later". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Well, You Needn't", "Misterioso", "Bemsha Swing", "'Round Midnight", "Epistrophy", "Ruby, My Dear", "Crepuscule With Nellie", "Blue Monk", and "Straight, No Chaser". LP, Vinyl record album

Monk Monk Monk! A classic, with a lively quintet that includes Thad Jones, Sam Jones, Art Taylor, and the amazing Charlie Rouse, here just beginning a very fruitful association with Monk – and really adding a lot to the session with some incredible tenor work that's as angular and modern as needed for Monk's work, yet with a soulful edge that really brings a lot to the music. The album's got 5 long tracks – hence the title – and they're all Monk classics that include "I Mean You", "Ask Me Now", "Jackie-ing", and "Straight No Chaser". LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of Thelonious Monk's early pre-LP recordings for Blue Note – seminal not only for the label's commitment to a modernist bop ideal, but also for Monk's integration in the growing collection of top-level jazz players on the New York scene! The work is notable also for the fact that Monk's playing sometimes in larger group settings – not just trio ones – and here, his early writing for and interplay with saxes and trumpet certainly has a strong effect on the development of modern jazz in the 50s – as you'll hear on tracks that include work from players like Sahib Shihab and Lou Donaldson on alto, Milt Jackson on vibes, and Idrees Suliman and Kenny Dorham on trumpets – depending on the volumes. Art Blakey is on drums throughout – and titles on this second volume include "Four In One", "Ask Me Now", "Criss Cross", "Skippy", "Hornin In", "Sixteen", and "Let's Cool One". LP, Vinyl record album

Some excellent Monk from the mid 50s – recorded between the early Blue Note sides and the later revolutionary ones for Riverside, all featuring Monk in some pretty heavy tenor company! Side one features Monk playing with Frank Foster, Ray Copeland, Curley Russell, and Art Blakey – on tracks that include "We See", "Locomotive", and "Hackensack". Side two features Monk with Sonny Rollins, Julius Watkins, Percy Heath, and Willie Jones – on two takes of "Think Of One", plus "Let's Call This". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful live set from the legendary Thelonious Monk Quartet – that magical lineup you'll know from Monk's early 60s albums on Columbia Records, captured here in a concert performance that really opens up so many different currents of the group's sound! Monk is crucial, of course, on piano – but the group also moves with a perfect sense of timing for his music, thanks to the work of John Ore on bass and Frankie Dunlop on drums – a group who are then topped by some fantastic tenor work from the amazing Charlie Rouse – a hell of player at many levels, but one who always seemed to hit new heights with Monk! The double-length package really gives the group a lot of room to open up – and tracks move nicely between extended numbers and a few nice shorter bits – on titles that include "Just A Gigolo", "Well You Needn't", "Round Midnight", "Bemsha Swing", "Balu Bolivar Balues Are", "Crepuscule With Nellie", "Jackie-Ing", and "Blue Monk". LP, Vinyl record album

Monk plays solo piano and is joined on some of the tracks by Art Blakey on drums and Al McKibbon on bass. The songs are all originals except for "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and they include "Blue Sphere", "Hackensack", "Criss Cross", "Something In Blue", "Evidence", "Jackie-ing", and "Nutty". The album was recorded in London and produced by Alan Bates. LP, Vinyl record album

One of those 70s two-fers that pulls together a nice batch of Prestige recordings, and in this case, largely restores them to chronological order. The tracks here were recorded between 1952 and 1954 and were mostly originally issued as 10" LPs, but eventually found their way to the LPs Thelonious Monk, Monk With Sonny Rollins & Frank Foster and Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins. The better part of the set is trio sides, with Gary Mapp or Percy Heath on bass and Art Blakey or Max Roach on drums, and the qui8ntet sides also feature Sonny Rollins, Frank Foster, Julius Watkins and Ray Copeland. 19 tracks in all, including "Little Rootie Tootie", "Sweet & Lovely", "Monk's Dream", "Trinkle Trinkle", "Bemsha Swing", "Reflections", "Let's Call This", "Think Of One", "We See", "Locomotive", "Hackensack", "Work", "Nutty" and "Blue Monk". LP, Vinyl record album

A famous European set from Thelonious Monk – recorded early in the 60s with his famous quartet that included Charlie Rouse on tenor! Even at this point before the Columbia sides, Rouse is already amazing – really stretching out in these modern, angular lines that are quite different than any of his recordings a few years before – a perfect match for the inventive piano of Monk, as would later be demonstrated on a host of classic studio recordings. There's an open, spontaneous energy between the pair in this live setting, though – almost like they're working out new ideas, but doing so perfectly – with the bass of John Ore and drums of Frankie Dunlop to round things out. Titles include "Bemsha Swing", "Crepuscule With Nellie", "San Francisco Holiday", "Body & Soul", "Straight No Chaser", and "Epistrophy". LP, Vinyl record album

A unique large group effort from Thelonious Monk – but one that bristles with all the angular energy of his other great work for Riverside! The group here is a tentet – filled with excellent players who include Donald Byrd, Phil Woods, Pepper Adams, Eddie Bert, Robert Northern, and Charlie Rouse – all supported by rhythm from the team of Sam Jones on bass and Art Taylor on drums, possibly one of the key factors for the success of the record! The album's comprised of Monk classics like "Little Rootie Tootie", "Thelonious", "Friday The 13th", "Off Minor", "Crepuscule with Nellie" and "Monk's Mood" – all arranged by Hall Overton, a little-remembered modernist from the 50s, but one with a keen dedication towards pushing new sounds from old formats! Overton really keeps the spirit of Monk's music intact here – penning charts that allow for plenty of solo space and the kind of cross-trading lines you'd hear in some of Monk's best multi-horn small group sides for Riverside! LP, Vinyl record album

Thelonious Monk plays the music of Duke Ellington – but as you can imagine, the sound here is quite different than usual! At a time when Ellington was working mostly in large group format for the mainstream, Monk's presentation of his standards in trio format is a wonderful way to unlock their nascent modernism – the angular tones, lines, and complex ideas that were still present in the orchestra readings of the tunes, but which would show up even more strongly in Duke's smaller group dates of the 60s. Many numbers bear the familiar Monk imprint – complicated lines on the keys and sharp changes that really reignite the numbers – and rhythm here is from Oscar Pettiford on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. Titles include "Mood Indigo", "It Don't Mean A Thing", "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good", and "Caravan". LP, Vinyl record album

Milestone compiled this album of some of the tracks Monk and Coltrane recorded together when their union began in the late 50s. The songs are taken from the albums Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane, Monk's Music, and Thelonious Himself. Some of the musicians who turn up on these recordings are Art Blakey on drums, Coleman Hawkins on tenor sax, Wilbur Ware on bass and Ray Copeland on trumpet. Tracks include "Nutty", "Trinkle, Tinkle", "Off Minor (both the alternate master and original master recordings)", "Abide With Me", and "Blues For Tomorrow". LP, Vinyl record album

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There were three sets of musicians that played with Monk for these recordings and they include Sonny Rollins on tenor sax, Percy Heath on bass, Art Blakey on drums and Julius Watkins on French horn. The tracks are "The Way You Look Tonight", "I Want To Be Happy", "Work", "Nutty", and "Friday The Thirteenth". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark in jazz – easily one of Thelonious Monk's greatest albums ever, and a magical crossroads of talents that brings together a variety of jazz traditions! The work is performed by an ambitious Monk septet that includes both Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane on tenor – and if you've ever doubted the brilliance of Hawk, this is the record to change your mind. The rest of the group is equally great – with Ray Copeland on trumpet, Gigi Gryce on alto, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Art Blakey on drums – all coming together with Monk to craft a perfect set of tunes that are virtually the definition of "modern jazz". Titles include "Abide With Me", "Off Minor", "Crepuscule With Nellie", and "Epistrophy". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "In My Solitude", "All Alone", "I Should Care", "Blue Monk", "April In Paris", "Bluehawk", and many more! LP, Vinyl record album

A mid 50s LP that compiles two different Monk sessions from the early 50s – both of which were originally issued as eps. The first set features trio recordings with Art Blakey or Max Roach on drums and Gary Mapp on bass – on versions of "Trinkle Tinkle", "Monk's Dream", "Bye Ya", and "Little Rootie Tootie". The other set features a trio from 1954, with Art Blakey on drums and Percy Heath on bass – on two tracks: "Blue Monk" and "Just A Gigolo". LP, Vinyl record album

Angular Monk meets hard-driving Art Blakey – in a session that's quite unique, and which has gone onto become one of the best-remembered Atlantic jazz sessions of the late 50s! The album features Blakey in that key non-Blue Note year of 1957 – a time when he was working with a variety of players, at a variety of labels, and taking some real chances with his music before settling into his more established hit Jazz Messengers sound. The group here is Art's own – with Johnny Griffin on tenor, Bill Hardman on trumpet, and Spanky DeBrest on bass – augmented by the piano of Thelonious Monk – a match that might seem unlikely at first, but not so much so after you consider the great work that Monk and Griffin did together at Riverside during the late 50s. There's a nice match between Johnny's sharp-edged tenor and Monk's imaginative playing – and if anything, the record has Blakey, Hardman, and DeBrest moving dynamically to keep up with the flurry of modern ideas coming from Griffin and Monk! Tracks are almost all originals by Thelonious too – a fact that definitely helps keep up the "Monk-ish" sound of the record – titles that include "Evidence", "Blue Monk", "I Mean You", and "Rhythm A Ning" – alongside Griffin's "Purple Shades". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful record from saxophonist Arthur Blythe – a set that features his group working through a number of tunes by Thelonious Monk – but with very different arrangements and instrumentation that change things up completely! The set came at a time when Monk was receiving a lot of new attention in the world of jazz, and at a time when Arthur's star had risen too – and the meeting of forces is wonderful – as Blythe brings all sorts of new rhythms and tonal combinations to play with familiar tunes that really transform in the process. The group is a familiar one for Blythe – and features Abdul Wadud on cello, Kelvyn Bell on guitar, Bob Stewart on tuba, and Bobby Battle on drums! And while you might scratch your head at the tuba, the instrument is often used in ways that might follow older bassline styles – but with a quality that bridges the alto and cello in a great way. Titles include "Nutty", "Coming On The Hudson", "Light Blue", "Epistrophy", and "We See". LP, Vinyl record album

A great later effort from tenor sax giant Charlie Rouse – a record that's quite different than his 50s hardbop or his 60s modernist work with Thelonious Monk – but still pretty darn great in its own sort of way! The album features Rouse working with a larger ensemble in a batch of tracks that has a distinct Brazilian influence – not one from bossa nova, but from the more sophisticated Brazilian jazz modes of later years – particularly as the style started to pick up from some of the arranging modes used in MPB. The players here are all well-suited to the session – and include Clifford Adams on trombone, Claudio Roditi on trumpet, Dom Salvador on piano, Ted Dunbar on guitar, Amaury Tristao on acoustic guitar, Ron Carter on bass, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Wilbur Bascomb on bass – all working together in a style that's somewhat complicated, yet which has an open-ended flow, and a very joyous sensibility overall! Arrangements are by Dom Salvador and Amaury Tristao – and titles include Salvador's romping groover "On The Corner – a real jazz dance classic – plus "Sertao", "Desencontro", "Alvorada", "Natal No Interior", and "Cravo Canela". LP, Vinyl record album

The title certainly gets it right – as the album features some of the first unique modern work by Randy Weston on wax – important trio material that was as important as key 50s sides by Thelonious Monk or Herbie Nichols! The session has Randy working with Sam Gill on bass and Art Blakey on drums – but the showcase here is really on Weston's work on the keys, which are poised somewhere between the more contemporary mainstream scene of New York at the time, and the angular modernists that this album made Weston a key part of. Titles include the original compositions "Zulu", "Pam's Waltz", and "Solemn Meditation" – the last of which is by Gill – plus "Again" and "If You Could See Me Now". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic meeting of two giants from the early years of bop – altoist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie – brought together here in a session that Norman Granz would later list as one of the truest realizations of his vision for recording jazz music! Parker's sharp lines are a great contrast to the robust horn work of Diz – and the players work here with a rhythm section that features Thelonious Monk on piano, Curley Russell on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums. Titles include "Relaxin With Lee", "Leap Frog", "Oscar For Treadwell", and "Mohawk". The LP also includes a number of alternate takes, and has a nice photo of the 2 jazz giants on the cover. LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 70s two-fer that includes the rarest of all the Sonny Rollins Blue Note sessions – and possibly the best! The 1956 session captures Rollins at a key turning point – emerging from his firey bop years, moving into a much more complicated, introspective tenor style that was a perfect showcase for his developing genius for improvisation. He's playing here in a quintet with Wynton Kelly, Donald Byrd, Gene Ramey, and Max Roach – but as with all Rollins Blue Note sessions, his tenor is the dominant force. The 1957 session is classic as it comes for late 50s Blue Note – and a key meeting between Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk! The group on the set features Rollins and Monk with JJ Johnson, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey – all of whom push things more in the direction of Blue Note's sound of the time, then Monk's own recordings of the period for Riverside. But the contrast of modes makes for a really startling sound – one that has Monk "monking" it up next to the straighter rhythm section, and bringing out some more modern tones in Rollins' tenor work. Titles include "Bluesnote", "Plain Jane", "How Are Things In Gocca Morra", and "Decision" from 1956 and "Why Don't I", "You Stepped Out Of A Dream", "Misterioso", and "Reflections" from 1957. LP, Vinyl record album

Thelonious Monk's legendary tenorist steps out on his own in this fantastic (and rare) hardbop session from the early 60s! The album's quite different than some of the work Charlie Rouse cut with Monk's classic quartet at the time – more in a hardbop mode that takes us back to his late 50s sides for Prestige – but done with a new sense sharpness, and a bit more of a soul jazz influence overall! The group is great too – a quartet that includes Dave Bailey on drums, Billy Gardner on piano, and Peck Morrison on bass. The latter two were playing a lot with Lou Donaldson in the early 60s, and they bring a similar rhythmic flavor to this set as well – and although we've always loved Rouse's modernist tones with Monk, this session shows him as a true emotional genius, capable of laying down a tight solo that's right in the pocket! Titles include "Billy's Blues", "Lil Rousin", "Stella By Starlight", and "Rouse's Point". LP, Vinyl record album

A very different album from Archie Shepp – and an introspective record that shows a whole new side of his talents! For the session, Shepp plays piano, not tenor – an instrument he handles with an angular, modern tone – one that seems to echo bits of Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk, but with a wider range of sounds too – and a definite sense of spirit that shows Archie's larger growth as a musician in the 70s. The tunes are often familiar numbers, but they're recast in weird ways here – odd phrasing on piano, offbeat rhythms, and some hip backing from Bob Reid on bass and Muhammad Ali on drums. The great Alan Shorter joins the group on flugelhorn for a few numbers – bringing in a freer Paris jazz feel – and titles include "Doodlin", "Invitation", "Coral Rock", "More Than You Know", and Shepp's own "Worried About You". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare small group sides from the Harlem scene of the pre-War years, with early appearances by Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke! LP, Vinyl record album

With selections from the CBS program "Sound Of Jazz" in December of 1957 by Count Basie All Stars, Red Allen All Stars, Thelonious Monk, Billy Holiday with Mal Waldron All Stars, Jimmy Giuffre Three, and Pee Wee Russell and Jimmy Giuffre Quartet. LP, Vinyl record album