The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings (2 CD) [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

Thelonious Monk, T. S. Monk | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 1957
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Riverside
• ASIN: B000FBHCQO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,902 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The 2005 release of Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall brought fresh attention to a brilliant musical partnership, though one of the least recorded. While the Monk/Coltrane association lasted only a few months in 1957, it coincided with Monk's emergence as a major figure and with the first flowering of Coltrane's genius. This two-CD set collects all of their studio meetings, including previously unreleased takes. There's the surprise trio version of "Monk's Mood," which the pianist inserted in a solo album; the Monk's Music septet sessions pairing Coltrane with Coleman Hawkins (now including the errant "Blues for Tomorrow," a Gigi Gryce tune recorded when Monk fell asleep at the keyboard); and the three superb tracks that constituted the sole studio documentation of the great quartet. Coltrane manages a virtual piano part on "Trinkle Tinkle," suggesting just how musically close the two became. Producer Orrin Keepnews provides an illuminating essay on the circumstances surrounding this essential chapter in jazz history. --Stuart Broomer

Product Description

Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane are universally recognized as musical demigods. The idea of Monk and Coltrane--the genius mentor and the budding genius--on the same bandstand or in the same recording studio is like Julius Erving and Michael Jordan soaring as teammates, or Jean Renoir and Francois Truffaut collaborating on a film. For an all-too-brief, magical time in 1957, Monk and Coltrane actually did work together every night as part of a quartet led by the uniquely brilliant pianist-composer Monk at New York's now-fabled Five Spot Cafe. And between April and July of that year they made the stunning music contained herein, their complete output in the recording studio.

The planets seemed to align for Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917-1982) and John William Coltrane (1926-1967) when they joined forces in '57. Coltrane was poised to make a giant leap forward--and ready to learn from one of the masters, Monk. In a Down Beat interview Coltrane said: "Working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I learned from him in every way." Some of those answers involved the way in which Coltrane's harmonic acuity developed, expressed via early intimations of his torrential "sheets of sound." With Monk's chords guiding him to places he'd never before visited, Coltrane was now on the path to transcendence. When he is joined by Coleman Hawkins, jazz's father of the tenor saxophone, on a couple of numbers from the epochal septet album Monk's Music, one hears the tenor's past, present, and future (e.g., the master take of "Epistrophy"). And listen raptly to the respective approaches of Hawkins and Coltrane on the two versions of "Ruby, My Dear," one of three signature Monk ballads in this set (the others are "Monk's Mood" and the ever-evolving "Crepuscule with Nellie").

There is such greatness on these two discs, so many wondrous performances (the rhythm team of bassist Wilbur Ware and drummers Art Blakey or Shadow Wilson is especially inspired), and so many fascinating stories about how these masterpieces came into being. Orrin Keepnews, who as producer of the original sessions was present at the creation of every note, has written a superb essay that sets the record straight, clears up long-standing rumors about what did (and did not) go down in the studio, and, above all, lets the listener in on how a genius mentor, a budding genius, and their gifted colleagues went about the business of conceiving a work of art.

Monk and Coltrane Photos

More Monk & Coltrane

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall	Monk's Dream	The Essential Thelonious Monk
Monk Alone	A Love Supreme, John Coltrane	Blue Train, John Coltrane

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monk and Trane in the Studio: The Director's Cut! That is, The Producer's Cut!, June 27, 2006

By 

J. Lund "jazzbrat" (SoCal, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings (2 CD) (Audio CD)

With the recently-released Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane Carnegie Hall CD selling extraordinarily well, the next logical step was to create a companion set of their studio recordings. On cue, THE COMPLETE 1957 RIVERSIDE RECORDINGS steps into the marketplace. Basically this set is the audio equivalent of a "Director's Cut" video release, but in this case it's producer Orrin Keepnews' labor of love.

For some the contents of this set may be too much of a good thing, given the number of alternate takes (plus the inclusion of several cuts from the same sessions that are missing one of the two key musicians). Ten tunes are featured among the twenty tracks included on the two CDs. However, for most listeners the multiple takes will be welcome. Both Monk and Coltrane almost always find something unique to say in their solos, although the five takes of "Crepuscule With Nellie" arguably do get a bit repetitive. Even so, bottom-of-the-barrel Monk and Trane out-takes would be over-the-top-of-the-barrel for most other musicians. Furthermore, I was surprised to find that two tracks are released here for the first time. Not to mention the master takes, which belong in the front wing of any jazz hall-of-fame!

Monk and Coltrane's names may be the only ones on the front cover, but the other musicians are among jazz's all-time greats as well, including tenor sax legend Coleman Hawkins on one session. There's really nothing more I can write than to say that these recordings are historically important, and timeless in their ability to sound fresh and innovative even a half-century after they were recorded. It's hard to find any jazz recordings over the course of its entire history that are more crucial than these Monk and Coltrane sessions.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There were giants in the earth in those days..., July 17, 2007

By 

John Grabowski (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings (2 CD) (Audio CD)

And their names were Monk, Coltrane, Blakey, and Hawkins. One blessed day in 1957 (or several, actually) they all got together in a studio, joined by a few lesser lights, and performed some of Monk's greatest compositions.

There's something electric about Monk and Blakey together. Add the tempestuous Coltrane to the mix and you have a keg of gunpowder. They make us realize how pat later performances of these compositions could sound. Particularly exciting is the first attempt at Epistrophy, with Blakey doing some wild drumming even for him. Unfortunately, because of a breakdown after Ray Copeland's trumpet solo, they had to do it again, and the second take sounds a bit more warmed over. There are still great moments, however, such as a powerful Coleman Hawkins tenor solo. The great Bean seems to be telling the youngersters "You are great, but I am still greater, after 30 years." And he was. The only player from his generation to really adapt to bebop, his reputation has faded a bit recently. He's not in the same parthenon as Parker, Coltrane, Davis, etc., but he should be, easily. His knowledge of the harmonic underpinnings of all these tunes is just astonishing, and his knotty solos demonstrate that he understood the function of every note in every chord in every tune. He is one of the most *thorough* musicians in jazz history.

While trumpeter Copeland and alto Gigi Gryce really don't fit in here (Gryce in particular is out of his element...I wonder why he was picked, and can only imagine how much better Sahib Shihab would have been) the rest of the cast is superb, with bassist Wilbur Ware and drummers Blakey and on some tracks Shadow Wilson lending inspired support. On Trinkle Tinkle and Nutty you can hear Trane experimenting with his "sheets of sound" technique, while in other, earlier tracks he is still heavily influenced by hard bop. In other words, you can hear his style change across the album. While there are too many Crepuscule With Nellies for my taste, the rest of the album is superb. Sound is extremely good (despite a few dropouts here and there) for the time, or even by today's standards. And producer Orrin Keepnews' liner notes are informative and make you feel like you are there. While some of the solos meander, and Copeland and Gryce are clearly trying to find their way (and occasionally getting lost, even on the tracks that got used) Trane and Monk and Blakey contribute first-class jazz. After you digest this terrific set, check out the recently-unearthed Monk and Trane at Carnegie Hall.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MONK and TRANE, January 11, 2007

By 

D. Ono (Murrieta, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings (2 CD) (Audio CD)

First I'd like to preface that I am not a musician or Jazz expert, but a Jazz enthusiast. I was a little leary about purchasing this CD because of the bad review and all the outtakes on the discography, but the price was right.

If you get this CD you'll be pleasantly surprised at the audio and musical quality of the songs and alternate takes. The little booklet inside was informative without being verbose.

Highly recommended!