BRILLIANT CORNERS: A Bio-Discography Of Thelonious Monk

Currently in production and targeted for publication in April.

The book weighs in at 545 pages and starts by resolving many of the mysteries of dates and personnel surrounding Mr Monk's Minton's recordings and including several previously unknown sessions. Thanks to help from the Thelonious Monk website, it benefits from resolving the other major Monk mystery-the identity of Frankie Passion-and further contacts with “Frankie Passion" made by the author have yielded information that gets as close as probably achievable to dating the session and indicating possible personnel. It also has more information on the historic Blue Note recordings than hitherto.

The main text lists chronologically all sessions where Mr Monk was recorded-whether for record companies, radio or television broadcasts, films, videos or private recordings made by fans-and every known record which issued them (in part or in full). These sessions are framed by a narrative which provides context-including reviewers' assessments, comments by musicians, personnel changes and pertinent anecdotes.

An appendix lists all the record issues of Monk performances by company, giving album title, country of origin and, where known, the year of issue, all cross-referenced to the sessions involved. The band itinerary-effectively Thelonious Monk's working diary-is contained in a second appendix, providing a day-by-day list of engagements in clubs, theatres, concert halls and jazz festivals wherever in the world they took place. A feature unique to Sheridan's discographies, this itinerary offers not only correlation with discographical information but also provides valuable insights into touring as well as information on the shifting personnel of Mr Monk's bands, particularly frequent in the later stages of his career. A third appendix lists all known films and videos, again cross-referenced to the main text, while a final appendix is a bibliography of sources and recommended further reading.

Four indexes cover (a) all musicians who played with him; (b) all tunes played (including composer, lyricist and, where known, year of composition); (c) all those Monk compositions used by others, usually vocalists, under a changed name; and (d) a reference to the people and places in Mr Monk's professional life.

The book also makes uses modern computer technology to make references to the material within more attractive and easier to access and to read.