Monk 'Round The World -- New "Live" CD/DVD Set Due August 10th

New York, NY - On August 10th, Thelonious Records and HYENA will release Monk 'Round The World, the second installment from the recent partnership between the two record labels. The CD/DVD series began last September 2003 with Monk In Paris: Live At The Olympia. The latest collection is drawn from five different concerts, highlighting seven performances, of the legendary composer and pianist recorded around the world beginning in 1961 and stretching through 1964. The set features Monk's various quartets of the period, while placing particular emphasis on his longtime saxophonist Charlie Rouse, who joined Monk's group in 1959. Their relationship would become one of the longest running associations in jazz history. Monk 'Round The World will also include a free bonus DVD of Thelonious Monk captured on March 14, 1965 at The Marquee Club in London. Additionally, basketball legend and self-professed Monk fanatic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar contributes liner notes to Monk 'Round The World.

The collaboration between Thelonious Records and HYENA marks the first time that the Thelonious Monk estate has opened it vaults to national distribution. The series is produced by HYENA's Joel Dorn in conjunction with Thelonious Records' founders, T.S. Monk and Dr. Peter Grain. The release program will focus on both legitimizing bootleg recordings that have never been legally issued before and unearthing previously unreleased performances. It is also the label home to contemporary jazz recording artist and Thelonious Monk's only son, T.S. Monk, who recently released Higher Ground and is working on his next album for early 2005 release. In addition to providing never before heard material to Thelonious Monk's devout fan base, strong emphasis is being placed on exposing the pianist's music to a new generation of fans.

“The more I listen to Monk and the more I explore his music, the more I think in the realm of modern jazz, Monk was the one," states Dorn. “I don't know of any other artist who was as definitely the past, the present and the future all at once."

Monk 'Round The World opens with the classic “Epistrophy" from The Monterey Jazz Festival in 1963. It's one for the ages. The theme emerges as a joyful dance - Monk bouncing jubilantly and Rouse digging deep with a torrid blues wail. Perhaps Monk's most celebrated composition, “Blue Monk," follows. The instantly recognizable melody swings effortlessly. Again, a sense of joy is palatable in the music. A seemingly playful Monk touches on “C Jam Blues" in his first solo's outro. “Ruby, My Dear," taken from the same concert as “Blue Monk" at The Alhambra in Paris on February 22, 1964, comes next, shifting the mood to suit that of the beautiful ballad. Track four finds Monk and his quartet off and running with a mesmerizing reading of “Rhythm-A-Ning" from the Odd Fellow Palaet in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 17, 1961. Rouse's hard bop shout, heard on the set's earlier cuts, is replaced by fiery bebop-influenced lines. The performance is definitive. The set is rounded out by stellar readings of “Bemsha Swing" from Sweden in 1961 and “Hackensack" from an undetermined European location in 1964.