Jazz Articles about Thelonious Monk

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Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: At Carnegie Hall

by Jim Santella
September 22, 2005

We need more surprises like this one. Discovered by accident during a routine transfer of tapes to digital format, the Library of Congress found a gem. Monk and Coltrane gave their November 29, 1957 Carnegie Hall audience a precious performance. The transfer to digital sound files from a 7 ½-inch tape reel has left their music remarkably fresh, presenting Monk's special quartet in true form. The quartet interprets his music appropriately, and their concert is charged with excitement from start ...

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Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: At Carnegie Hall

by David Rickert
September 21, 2005

Thelonious Monk's quartet with John Coltrane was one of the greatest groups in the history of jazz, but most of us have only been able to take other people's word for it. The group's reputation rests mostly on its live performances at the Five Spot, of which only an amateur recording of poor quality exists, and the musicians only entered the studio once to record a handful of tracks. Thus those who listen avidly to both Monk and Trane but ...

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Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: At Carnegie Hall

by Norman Weinstein
September 20, 2005

Let's be clear from the start: this discovery of a new Monk/Coltrane live concert completely puts to shame the over-hyped Five Spot CD from years ago. Not only is the sound as sterling and clear as the sound on the Five Spot date was excretory, but the performances of the stars are light years beyond that muddy recording.There is a sense that both Monk and Coltrane knew they were going to make history in 1957 at Carnegie Hall, ...

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Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners & Monk 'Round the World

by Riel Lazarus
December 18, 2004

The path by which legendary pianist and composer Thelonious Monk rose to infamy was a long and trying one. So unique and progressive were Monk's gifts that it took the jazz community what now seems like an eternity to catch on to his brilliance. But all that's history, leaving us now to ruminate upon each of Monk's creative offerings as single elements contributing to the whole from one of the music's most important and enigmatic figures.

Thelonious Monk ...

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Thelonious Monk: Monk 'Round the World

by Franz A. Matzner
August 13, 2004

Second in the series of Thelonious Monk releases produced by the his son, T.S. Monk, Monk Round the World presents seven live tracks of the seminal pianist performing in various European and U.S. locales. At this point it would be impossible to expect a Monk release to provide wholly new insights into the artist's music, but like its predecessor, Monk Round the World offers an intriguing glimpse into Monk's live performance style, and it documents in clear ...

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Thelonious Monk: Monk 'Round the World

by John Kelman
August 4, 2004

What can you say about pianist Thelonious Monk? By the time these tracks were recorded, between '61 and '64, he had already amassed a body of work containing many tunes that had already become classics, and he would continue to influence composers and players through to this day. At this time in his career, though, rather than continuing to develop new material, he seemed content, for the most part, to reinterpret his own significant oeuvre. Backed by a fluctuating band ...

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Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington

by David Rickert
April 2, 2004

Alfred Lion was so captivated by Monk that once he got him in the studio, he recorded everything he had. However, most of the jazz listening public wasn’t quite open to such a maverick approach, and Monk struggled to find an audience early on. Once Monk hopped to Riverside after a brief stint at Prestige, producer Orrin Keepnews decided his first record needed to be a collection of Ellington songs. Ellington was an established artist with a wide selection of ...