Jazz Articles about Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk / Sonny Rollins: Thelonius Monk & Sonny Rollins

by Douglas Payne
November 1, 1999

Hard as it is to believe, states this disc's back-cover blurb, “Thelonious Monk was widely dismissed as an eccentric, while many found the young Sonny Rollins's tenor far too aggressive compared to the then-cool norm." As time passed, though, Monk became progressively more Monk-like (and less likely to explore anything outside of his own increasingly familiar repertoire) and Rollins continued to carve out an aggressively individual style of his own. Today, Thelonius Monk & Sonny Rollins seems positively tamed by ...

Thelonious Monk: Monk Alone: The Complete Columbia Solo Recordings: 1926 - 1968

by C. Michael Bailey
October 1, 1998

Not a Reissue. The venerable Orrin Keepnews informs the liner note reader right off the bat that this two-CD set of solo Monk music is not a reissue. It is comprised of all of the solo piano performances prepared during Monk's association with Columbia. Collected are the solo performances that occurred on otherwise ensemble LPs as well as Solo Monk (47854). I addition, there a 14 previously unreleased performances. A reissue? A compilation? I don't care what it's ...

Various Artists: Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years

by Chris M. Slawecki
October 1, 1997

In my wilder, more unforgiving days, I might have merely typed up the personnel and set list and submitted only that in review of Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years, and argued to the powers-that-be that if the reader couldn’t comprehend its abundant magnificence of music from the unadorned facts, my descriptive and persuasive prowess would be of slight use.

I must have grown either more wise or more foolish since then.

Make no mistake: Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary ...

Thelonious Monk: Live At The Five Spot: Discovery!

by Jim Santella
February 1, 1997

This live date, recorded in the summer of `57, features pianist and composer Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane on tenor sax, Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Since it was captured on a portable tape recorder by Juanita (Naima) Coltrane, the total immersion of being in a live session pervades, with audience conversations and other background noises popping up at unexpected intervals. Unfortunately, the single microphone was positioned too far away from John Coltrane, so that there's ...