A classic solo piano album from Thelonious Monk – recorded live in San Francisco, and maybe one of his best albums ever in the format! There's a special sort of quality that makes Monk's solo work so different from his trio, quartet, and larger group music – this real understanding of the piano, and a personal sense of sonic shading, even when covering some of his familiar compositions – maybe a bit like the way that Sun Ra's solo piano is also so distinct. Most of the tunes here are Monk originals or standards that Thelonious has played before at least a few times on record – but the solo setting almost has him pulling the tunes apart slowly – contemplating their components, then stepping through them with new inspiration as he puts them back together. Titles include "Blue Monk", "Pannonica", "Remember", "Reflections", "Bluehawk", "Everything Happens To Me", and "Round Lights". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant title for this brilliant album from Thelonious Monk – a set that really has him coming back strongly in the second half of the 50s – with a new talent for arrangements that really goes past his previous work! Monk's piano and compositions are every bit as great as before – but what really makes the album amazing is his ear for horn lines – particularly the alto of Ernie Henry and tenor of Sonny Rollins, both of whom add in an additional angular quality to Monk's groove. Clark Terry replaces Henry on a few numbers – and the rhythm is from the wonderful team of Oscar Pettiford and Max Roach – on classic long takes of "Brilliant Corners", "Ba-Lue Bolivar Blues Are", "Pannonica", and "Bemsha Swing". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant live set from the key 60s years of the Thelonious Monk Quartet – material recorded in Tokyo as part of a TV broadcasting – done with excellent sound, and different than the album release of material that came out from Columbia Records at the time! The group here features pure genius – a balance of Monk's modern piano with sax, bass, and drums at a level that's almost an answer to that pairing in the late 50s Dave Brubeck group – Monk really pushing the edges, alongside the stunning Charlie Rouse on tenor, with Butch Warren on bass and Frankie Dunlop on drums. This version of the group would be gone by the end of 1963, but sound wonderful here – on titles that include "Epistrophy", "Evidence", "Just A Gigolo", "Blue Monk", and "Ba Lou Bolivar Ba Luse Are". LP, Vinyl record album

Previously-unreleased live material from the glory days of the Thelonious Monk Quartet – captured right in the middle of that group's famous run on Columbia Records, with fidelity as strong as if the label itself were producing the session! We could say volumes about this group – and we probably already have on these pages – and we're always amazed at the way the richness of the tenor of Charlie Rouse balances out the angular ideals of Monk on the piano – at a level that may well make Rouse one of Monk's greatest musical partners, ever! The rest of the group is equally wonderful – John Ore is a superb bassist, and Frankie Dunlop somehow manages to grab all the rhythm in Monk and Charlie's playing, and make them swing even more. All tracks here are long, and filled with strong solos throughout – on versions of "Nutty", "Monk's Dream", "Body & Soul", "Bye Ya", and "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". LP, Vinyl record album

A never-issued performance of this classic tune from the Thelonious Monk songbook – recorded for Danish Radio in 1963, and played by the legendary quartet that featured Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, John Ore on bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums! The quality is right up there with some of the live material that Columbia has unearthed in recent decades – and Rouse takes a great solo that's worth the price of the single alone! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A lost live recording from the legendary Thelonious Monk Quartet of the 60s – done at a time when the group wasn't recording at all, as a small benefit at a high school in California! Yet despite that setting, the vibe here is as relaxed, open, and human as if the combo were playing at an overseas club – very personal presentation of the best ideals inherent in Monk's piano, Charlie Rouse's tenor, Larry Gales' bass, and the drums of Ben Riley! Monk had been having some health issues during the year, but they don't show up at all in his performance – save for maybe a sense of brooding darkness at times, although that was always a quality that might appear in his performance. The music is every bit as essential as the London recordings that would emerge a few years later – and titles include "Blue Monk", "Well You Needn't", "Ruby My Dear", "Don't Blame Me", "Epistrophy", and "I Love You Sweetheart Of All My Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare live material by Monk – recorded in Tokyo in 1963, and for many years a set that was unavailable to the rest of the world on record! The date's a great one – and features the classic Columbia quartet with Charlie Rouse on tenor, Butch Warren on bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums – that impeccable group that provided Monk with such a strong platform for a number of years, and really helped focus and advance his ideas. Rouse is especially wonderful, and he gets a lot of freedom on the record to work out these complicated solos that differ from some of his tighter work on some of the Monk studio albums of the time The set covers 2 LPs – and titles include "Panonica", "Evidence", "Bemsha Swing", "Epistrophy", "Hackensack", and "Blue Monk". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite Thelonious Monk albums ever – a bare bones, no nonsense session that's filled with great work from tenorist Charlie Rouse! The record's filled with everything that's great about the Monk/Rouse team in these years – an incredible interplay between sax and piano, served up over the sorts of angular tunes that Monk had been putting forth for years, but somehow at a level that's even more perfect, more "Monkish" than before! Other members of the group are Butch Warren on bass and Ben Riley on drums – and titles include "Lulu's Back In Town", "Memories Of You", "Brake's Sake", "Stuffy Turkey", and "Shuffle Boil". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from Thelonious Monk – a superbly-recorded live set from early 60s Paris – done with his legendary quartet with Charlie Rouse on tenor! The music here is wonderful – tracks that are often quite long, and stretched out nicely from the Columbia Records material by the group – with especially long improvisations by Monk that really reignite our respect for his genius – and the kind of soulful solos from Rouse that are always a perfect match! The bass of John Ore is beautifully recorded too – maybe even more powerful here than usual – and Frankie Dunlop completes the group with wonderfully deft work on drums. Titles include "Well You Needn't", "Jackie-ing", "Hackensack", and "Rhythm A Ning". 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 first volume include "Round Midnight", "In Walked Bud", "Thelonious", "Epistrophy", "Misterioso", "Well You Needn't", and "Off Minor". LP, Vinyl record album

The first-ever issue of this rare live set from the legendary Thelonious Monk Quartet of the 60s – the same group that cut some incredible albums for Columbia Records, sounding equally great here in a concert setting in Paris! The group features tremendous tenor work from Charlie Rouse – a player who can be deeply soulful, but also hit all the right angles to match Monk's modern piano lines – as important to Thelonious as the alto sax of Paul Desmond was to Dave Brubeck! And like Brubeck's quartet at the time, the rhythm players here are also key – the fantastic John Ore on bass, and the great Frankie Dunlop on drums – two players who hit all the right spots along the way, and match Monk's energy perfectly. Titles include "Criss Cross", "Epistrophy", "Bye Ya", "Monk's Dream", and a "Drum Solo". 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". Features a full bonus album of outtakes from the sessions – most unreleased! LP, Vinyl record album

John Tchicai plays the music of Thelonious Monk, and a few of his own tunes too – in a wonderful set that shows beautifully why we always look out for work from this enigmatic saxophonist! There's definitely a Monkish vibe to the record, but Tchicai's approach is often quite personal too – creating warmth where others might have kept things angular, or changing up the pacing of the tunes – so that he's always leaving a very strong imprint of his own on the recordings, and not just covering too-familiar Monk territory. Each tune has a slightly different execution – and many numbers have John stepping out sparely, blowing in the lead – but with some warmth and depth that's quite different than the coldness of his modern moments from years back. And there's also a bit of Hammond on the record – played by George Colligan, who also alternates on piano – and use of that instrument really makes for a fresh sound too – a wonderful change that's almost like some 60s soul jazz take on Monk. Bass is by Steve Laspina and drums are by Billy Drummond – and titles include "Monk's Mood", "Coming On The Hudson", "Light Blue", "Ugly Beauty", "Ruby My Dear", and "Cool Copy". LP, Vinyl record album

Early genius from the legendary pianist Hasaan – an artist most people know for his famous Atlantic album with Max Roach, but who steps out here in a set of earlier material that's completely amazing! The set begins with six trio tracks – performed in a group with Henry Grimes on bass and Kalil Madi on drums – a combo who carve out space that's completely their own, taking some of the 50s modern piano ideas of Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk, but letting them loose with even more imagination – yet also avoiding any too-free modes as well. The balance is incredible – on all original titles that include "Viceroy", "Pay Not Play Not", "Off My Back Jack", "Almost Like Me", and "Dinka Street". Next are three long tracks that feature the vocals of Muriel Gilliam (aka Muriel Winston from her Strata East days), singing alongside Hasaan's piano on these really amazing takes on standards – stretched out, and given lots of sharp edges – on takes of "Embraceable You", "Stella By Starlight", and "Body & Soul". Last up are two very long solo tracks – stunningly imaginative versions of "After You've Gone" and "End Of A Love Affair". LP, Vinyl record album

The young Roland Kirk at the height of his powers – recording here on the UK scene, long before he added the Rahsaan to his name – and heading up a very cool combo with the legendary Stan Tracey on piano! Stan's presence here is wonderful – as Tracey was in many ways the Thelonious Monk or Herbie Nichols of the London scene – a modernist piano genius whose accompaniment of Roland here is akin to the work of Jaki Byard on some of Kirk's other albums – as the pair move deftly and wonderfully with the mix of imagination and wit that both of them brought to their music! Rhythm accompaniment is wonderful too – deft drums from Ronnie Stephenson and bass from Malcolm Cecil. Kirk blows tenor, stritch, and manzello – sometimes all three at once – and titles include the long tracks "Angelica", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "Close Your Eyes", and "Three For The Festival". LP, Vinyl record album

Vocalist Fay Victor pens lyrics for a jazz composer we're not sure we've ever heard with words before – modern piano legend Herbie Nichols, a player whose songs are often as full of angles and sharp changes as Thelonious Monk! And as you might guess from a style like that, the music doesn't easily lend itself to vocalization – but when it does, the results are amazing – as Victor's not only penned some fantastic lyrics for these tunes, she also delivers one of her best performances on record to date! The sound is modern, but never too outside – maybe like Jon Hendricks taking on some of Monk's music, in the way that Fay always retains a sense of humanity – working here with piano from Anthony Coleman, alto and baritone from Michael Attias, bass from Ratzo Harris, and drums from Tom Raney. Titles include "Descent Into Madness", "Non Fraternization Clause", "The Culprit Is You", "Shuffle Montgomery", "Sinners All Of Us", and "Bright Butterfly". LP, Vinyl record album

A magical pairing of musicians – both of whom had come together in different formats, and who here showcase a great late meeting of their genius! The vibe is maybe similar to the Super Quartet that Lacy and Waldron were leading in the early 90s, but with a slightly different lineup – Mal on piano, Steve on soprano sax, Reggie Workman on bass, and Andrew Cyrille on drums – a very deft, fluid quartet who are able to shift easily between the different modes of the set! The performance begins with a bit of a nod to Thelonious Monk – always a key influence on Lacy's sound, even at the start – but Waldron's also bringing plenty of his ideas in too, and things really open up once the music gets going – with especially strong flavors that come from the territory that both musicians developed overseas in the decades before this performance. Tracks are all very long – and titles include "Variation Of III", "Longing", "Monk's Dream", "What It Is", "Epistrophy", and the long medley "Snake Out/Variations On A Theme By Cecil Taylor". LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary John Coltrane was a leader on some amazing recordings of the late 50s and 1960s – but right at the start of his career, he also added key contributions to records headed up by other folks too – and some of the best of those moments are collected here in this well-done set! The "other side" isn't really a part of the Coltrane legacy that's different than the rest – but these early tracks show just how important his tenor saxophone stylings were to the transforming sound of jazz at the end of the 50s – taking things past earlier bop expressions, yet still in a straightforward mode – with solos that are sometimes even more stunning than the work of the leaders under whom the records were issued! Most of the tracks here are from the Prestige and Riverside Records catalogs – and titles include "CTA" by Art Taylor, "Monk's Mood" and "Trinkle Trinkle" by Thelonious Monk, "Someday My Prince Will Come" and "Airegin" by Miles Davis, "Soultrane" by Tadd Dameron, "Billie's Bounce" by Red Garland, and "Tenor Madness" by Sonny Rollins. 2LP set features bonus tracks – "Nutty" by Thelonious Monk, and "Birk's Works" by Red Garland. LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most exciting piano jazz ever recorded – and one of the rare few albums released by the legendary Herbie Nichols! Nichols' firm-handed style is amazing throughout, and the record explodes with energy unheard of on other trio sessions from the time – a fantastic blend of modern ideas and really dynamic work on the piano – certainly of the bop generation, but with all the explosive elements of Thelonious Monk at his best. Part of the credit probably goes to Max Roach, who does a fantastic job backing Herbie up, in a trio that also includes Teddy Kotick on bass – but Nichols' overall conception is without compare, and the whole darn thing's pretty fantastic! Titles include "Chit Chatting", "The Gig", "Terpsichore", "Spinning Song", and "Query". 50s bop modernism at its best! LP, Vinyl record album

Killer piano jazz, and some of the greatest modernist work ever recorded by Blue Note! Herbie Nichols deserves every bit of the rare fame he ever got – and it's only the paucity of his recordings that has kept him from achieving the status of Thelonious Monk or Cecil Taylor as an avant garde forefather – which makes this album a really key piece of a too-small jazz puzzle! Nichols is amazing throughout – bristling with new ideas, and a fresh approach to modern jazz that also transforms the presence of the other two members of the trio – Art Blakey on drums and Al McKibbon on bass, both of whom are clearly following Herbie's lead here. All titles are original – Nichols was a hell of a writer – and titles include "Third World", "Step Tempest", "Dance Line", "Blue Chopsticks", "Shuffle Montgomery", "Brass Rings", "Crisp Day", and "Amoeba's Dance". Single LP version features all material that was originally on the two different 10" LP releases. LP, Vinyl record album

A group here that features some key members from the American avant scene, but whose standout member might well be pianist Oscar Jan Hoogland – who contributed two originals to the set, and whose work on the keys seems to really direct the energy of this session that features fresh interpretations of tunes by Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk! The setting is quite a different one for saxophonist Keefe Jackson, but he's superb throughout – blowing tenor and sopranino sax at a level that has all the angular tones and inventive spirit that players like Steve Lacy or Charlie Rouse brought to their work in the Monk generation – but with all the freer qualities that live up to Keefe's legacy too! The rest of the group is great too – Joshua Abrams reminding us what a swinging bassist he can be, and Mikel Patrick Avery on drums – really punctuating the tunes nicely, on selections that include "Bemsha Swing", "The Happenings", "Epistrophy", and "Gotta Get Some Sleep – plus Hoogland originals "Wimpel" and "Aanhanguis". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique little album from tenorist Charlie Rouse – a player who's best known to most for his famous 60s recordings in the Thelonious Monk Quartet – but who stretches out here in a very different style for the Strata East scene of the 70s! The album's almost funky at times, and nicely offbeat and spiritual at others – with players who include Paul Metzke and George Davis on guitars, Calo Scott on cello, David Lee on drums, Stanley Clarke on bass, and Azzedin Weston and Airto on percussion – a very unusual mix of instrumentation that presents that wonderful Rouse tenor sound in a very different way! Charlie also plays a bit of bass clarinet at one point – and titles include "Bitchin", "In His Presence Searching", "Hopscotch", "Two Is One", and "In A Funky Way". LP, Vinyl record album

The only thing "straight" about Steve Lacy's horn is its shape – as the soprano sax here is used in some extremely inventive and modern ways, especially for the date of the session! We don't think we're going out on a limb to say Lacy is one of the foremost melodic improvisors of his time, and easily one of the most talented soprano players too – and his early date as a leader shows both his forward looking involvement with the avant garde (he'd played with Cecil Taylor just before this date and does a couple of his compositions here) and a career-long fascination with Thelonious Monk. Although the group here is piano-less – with Charles Davis on baritone sax, John Ore on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums – there's a definite Monk-like edge to many of the numbers, carried off especially by the sharp turns in Lacy's horn! Titles include "Criss Cross", "Air", "Donna Lee", "Louise", "Played Twice", and "Introspection". LP, Vinyl record album