London Collection 2

Thelonious Monk | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 1, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Black Lion/Da Music/Ka
• ASIN: B0000015OY
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,378 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Evidence (Take 2)

2. Misterioso

3. Crepuscule With Nellie (Take 4)

4. I Mean You

5. Criss Cross

6. Ruby My Dear

7. Nutty (Take 2)

8. Hackensack (Take 2)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Monk's final group recording., January 31, 2006

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: London Collection 2 (Audio CD)

In 1971, Thelonious Monk toured Europe as part of the "Giants of Jazz" tour and in November of that year, entered a London studio for what would be his final recording session. The session has been released in three volumes-- the first is an album of solo piano performances, the second is a trio record, and hte third is a collection of alternate takes from the sessions. "The London Collection Volume 2" is the trio session, featuring bassist Al McKibbon and drummer Art Blakey.

One thing to state up front-- while these sessions are a coda to the career of Thelonious Monk, they are not to go overlooked. Monk had not been in the studio in three years and had not recorded small group in nearly four, but his performance is no less fantastic then it had been on those sessions, and certainly with support as sympathetic as McKibbon and Blakey (often considered the ideal drummer for Monk, although I would contend that Ben Riley wins that crown), the session produced much fruit, from the Jazz Messengeresque framed "Evidence" (comparable to the arrangement on "Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk 15 years earlier) to the delicate and lovely "Crepuscule with Nellie" or the downright ecstatic "I Mean You", which turns into a stunning bass feature for McKibbon even as Blakey and the leader threaten to steal the show beneath him.

If you can find it, get the remastered variants of this coming out of Europe-- I was able to order all three volumes via Amazon zShops-- the sonic upgrade is worthwhile.

Bottom line-- these are not sessions to be overlooked. I somewhat prefer volume 1 to this one, but it's a fine record, recommended.