Can someone REALLY make the claim that a 15 disc boxed set is on a Desert Island level? Yes, from my own testimony.
Back when I was in college, and abandoning the negativity of rock, I took a 7 month trip in my 71 VW bus and was armed with a collection of cassette tapes of jazz from which I knew nothing about. Half of the music was from this period of pianist Thelonious Monk’s career, ranging from 1955-1961. The music wasn’t from his initial days when he burst on the scene like a heat seeking missile on the cutting edge of bebop, or at the end when he was a household name with a working quartet with tenor saxist Charles Rouse. No, it was when Monk was just starting to regain traction in his career by signing with the new label called Riverside. It became a watershed moment for both artist and label.
To go over each of the 29 sessions would cause your eyes to glaze over. What you need to know is that what I came across after listening to these songs by Monk in solo, trio, quartet, small group and big band settings is that this is some of the most joyful music I could ever come across. After imbibing from the Monk waters, almost every other jazz artist seems stale, trite, or just too danged serious. There is an idiosyncratic insouciance here that is simply infectious, and it makes 95% of all other jazz artists pale in comparison.
While Monk has been known as a great composer, the two first sessions here are having him cover other material, and even here he shines a prismatic light that few others could do. There is spring in Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing” that swings with pleasure, while the change from melodramatic to bouncy in “I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good)” is a stroke of genius. Solo sessions here take you to the marrow of compositions such as the haunting “’Round Midnight” as well as the reflective “Monk’s Mood.”
But it’s his relationships with tenor saxophonists here that brings out the best in both Monk and his partners . The sessions with John Coltrane are legendary’; “Ruby My Dear” is a romantic gem, while “Nutty” splashes with joy. Coleman Hawkins joins in for the definitive read of “Well, You Needn’t” that has both saxes blowing wild winds as Monk’s fascinating piano plinks, planks and sits by the side. Sonny Rollins is part of a quintet that sounds like The Little Train That Could as the team chugs along on the wonderfully wild “Brilliant Corners,” while the Fastest Gun in the West named Johnny Griffin shoots off his Colt 45 during quicksilver boppers like “In Walked Bud,” “Let’s Cool One” and “Rhythm A Ning.” Future long time partner Rouse brings his earthy tone to “Hackensack” and “I Mean You.”
Meanwhile, you also get fantastic summit meetings with the likes of Gerry Mulligan and Clark Terry as well as the one-off big band recording from Hall Overton where Pepper Adams, Phil Woods and Donald Byrd join in for a raucous “Little Rootie Tootie.” There is a lot to absorb here, but there are few better ways to musically invest your time. Sounds, styles and melodies here are life affirming, with Monk changing the way we think about and enjoy music. A sonic tonic!
This album won two Grammys back during the original release n 1987 for Best Historical Album and Best Album Notes. The original notes are here, and are very helpful in appreciating the importance of the music, but if you’re reading instead of listening, you’re kind of missing the point. Put it on!!!
Concord Music Group