Larry Gales

Biography
Articles

In September of 1964, when Thelonious Monk was looking for a bass player, Larry Gales was recommended. The rest is history. Gales remained with the Monk quartet until just before Christmas 1968, and was the bassist for the Thelonious Monk Quartet’s principal period.

Gales started playing bass as a youngster, and by 1956 was studying at the Manhattan School of Music. He had played with the Lockjaw Davis/Johnny Griffin Quintet, Junior Mance, Joe Williams and Herbie Mann before joining up with Monk in ’64. He remained as the bassist with Monk until 1968, whereupon he relocated out to Los Angeles where he became a prolific and highly sought session man and accompanist.

Gales did one noteworthy album as leader: “A Message From Monk.”

Thelonious Monk: Monk Live In Paris 1967 Volume One

Read "Monk Live In Paris 1967 Volume One" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
July 31, 2026

This Paris concert formed part of a European tour organized by the impresario George Wein, who had previously presented numerous Thelonious Monk Quartet engagements. Seeking something different, Wein proposed an expanded ensemble. Monk was initially reluctant to depart from the quartet format and only agreed after considerable persuasion. Crucially, he retained artistic control: he selected the additional musicians himself and insisted on using Hall Overton's arrangements, familiar from the earlier concerts Town Hall (Riverside 1959) and Philharmonic Hall (Columbia 1964). ...

Album Review

Thelonious Monk: Live In Paris 1967 Volume One

Read "Live In Paris 1967 Volume One" reviewed by Joshua Weiner

by Joshua Weiner
June 14, 2026

The discography of Thelonious Monk, bebop architect, composer of enduring standards and idiosyncratically influential pianist, is vast. In addition to Monk's genre-defining studio recordings, several live sets were released during his lifetime, including a notable series put out by Columbia Records during Monk's time on that most major of major labels, from 1962 to 1968. Live In Paris 1967 (Volume One) is a notable addition for several reasons: it is the first official release of material by the Monk Estate ...

Album Review

Thelonious Monk: Bremen 1965

Read "Bremen 1965" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
December 5, 2025

The first official release of the Bremen concert, carefully remastered from the original tapes, is more than just an archival curiosity; it is a revelation. Recorded on an evening characterized by generous tempos and a relaxed exchange, Bremen 1965 reaffirms Thelonious Monk and his experienced quartet as they pay their most fundamental tributes: the uneven poetry of his time, the crystalline bite of Charlie Rouse's tenor saxophone, the steady ballast of Larry Gales's bass, and Ben Riley's propulsive subtleties on ...

Album Review

Thelonious Monk: Palo Alto

Read "Palo Alto" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 18, 2020

Earth-shattering? The best live Thelonious Monk recording ever? Who knows? Probably not. But it is Monk, so Palo Alto, comes to us with all the scholarly fandom brouhaha we accord these wonderful little things that gratefully drop in our laps from troubled time to troubled time. For anyone not paying attention to the jazz chatter of late, the backstory to Palo Alto thumbnails broadly like this: It is 1968 which, as it just so happens, is another troubled ...