Customer Reviews

Monk's Dream

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We all know Monk was a genius when it came to composition. What's most remarkable to me in this set is his genius as jazz pianist.

For his brilliance as a pianist, check out "Bright Mississippi," which, with "Epistrophe," is one of his most challenging compositions. What strikes me about his playing on this cut, besides the bizarro yet perfectly apt chord voicings, is the incredible way he mixes comping, soloing, and group interaction. It's almost as if he's defined an entirely new approach to jazz piano. Amazingly, Charlie Rouse, his long-time collaborator on sax, seems to have perfectly picked up on the vibe, spinning off a wonderful solo that somehow melds perfectly into the group ineractive vibe laid down in the first few bars. It's almost as if this group has figured out a new way to play jazz--not the traditional statement of the head, solo improv by each instrument, then a return to the head--but rather solo/group interaction with no clear delination between who's soloing and who's comping. And this glorious democracy of group improv continues throughout this entire remarkable disc, surely a landmark in the history of jazz music.

Undoubtedly, this vibe has been picked up by any number of the hottest trio jazz units, from Jason Moran to Jean-Michel Pilc to Frank Kimbrough. Indeed, as great a composer as he was--and I in no way want to diminish his contribution here--Monk was perhaps as great an innovator in terms of his understanding of jazz small-group communication and interaction.

This disc, his first for a major label, Columbia, is also a high point not only in his career, but in the history of jazz. Joining a roster that included Leonard Bernstein, Barbra Streisand, and Bob Dylan, Monk, entirely on his own terms, without the slightest hint of compromise, took the label by storm. Having perfected his idiosyncratic style through the late 40's and 50's, he was now fully equipped to unleash his full-blown jazz brilliance on a wider audience.

Having honed both his piano chops and his unique group-improv approach, he was fully prepared to maximize his opportunity to make an indelible impression on the jazz world and indeed the larger audience for accessible though challenging and uniquely voiced instrumental music. This he did in a remarkable sucession of releases, starting with Monk's Dream and continuing through a sucession of brilliantly realized sessions with Columbia.

Thus, Monk's Dream is not only a great entre to Monk's music, but one of the all-time classic records in the history of jazz. By all means, not to be missed.

I won't gush about how it's the best thing since sliced scrapple, but it's pretty stinking good. A well-recorded selection of Monk originals and covers, Charlie Rouse blowing the roof off, and the whole band moving like an elastic waistband make it a very listenable set. It's a happy record, really, unlike many jazz records; this band loves playing this music, and it really shows. It also features Rouse at the top of his game as Monk's foremost collaborator/interpreter on sax; at times, Rouse and Monk seem almost telephathic. If you haven't heard Monk on record, make no mistake: like all Monk records, this isn't your grandpa's dance music. But it's one of Monk's most accessible sessions in that all the tunes are both inventive and 'right on,' and unlike most other Monk records, it's a happy swinger throughout, or at least as much as that is true of any Monk record. The band takes its chances, but they all seem to pay off. There are no clunkers here.
Jazz nazis (if it takes one to know one, fine; I used to be one) will sneer that it isn't odd or inaccessible enough to be a classic, but that doesn't mean you have to miss this enjoyable record. If Monk's music is a language all its own, then this is one of his better conversations.

Monk's first album for Columbia is a quartet session, as so many of them are, and featured what would be his steady band for a few years, with Rouse, Dunlop, and Ore. The highlight is the title song. Monk had such inventive names for his compositions, part of the fun is finding a way to correlate them to the music. "Monk's Dream" seems to me to have a distinctively dream-like quality, though I'm at a loss to describe it coherently with words. No matter. It's vintage Monk--strange, humorous, beautiful. Charlie Rouse's solo on "Bright Mississippi" may very well be the very best solo he's ever played--he begins, quite cleverly, by falling off the cliff of Monk's composition, and spends the rest of his solo climbing his way out and ascending. It's a shame then, that it's followed immediately by an extremely rare poor Monk solo--he seems quite lost and never catches fire. This album also has the wonderful tune "Bye-ya", and Monk's signature solo run-through of "Just a Gigolo".

In 1962, bebop was on its way out the door, but Thelonious Monk's star was rising. Having spent the better part of the previous decade signed to Riverside (where he moved from underground to somewhat more popularly known), he signed to Columbia Records' growing jazz department (it should be noted that all the praise that is often levied on Columbia for all this jazz they recorded should be tempered by noting how quickly they kicked these artists to the curb when they decided this music was not commercial enough). Monk appeared to be happy to be signed to the label, as he took his working quartet (including Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, John Ore on bass and Frankie Dunlop on drums) into the studio to record this album, "Monk's Dream", which has an ecstatic energy to it that many Monk pieces lack in favor of introspection.

Perhaps the most telling is the title track and opener, "Monk's Dream"-- it's energetic, upbeat and exciting, with Monk's playing fractured and explosive and Rouse matching. This pretty much sticks through the entire record, including the solo piano feature "Body and Soul", a stunning take on "Blue Bolivar Blues" (with a superb solo by Rouse) and "Bye-Ya", where Dunlop gets to show just what he's got in him. Throughout, the playing is superb, the group interaction is near-psychic, and the mood is exciting and upbeat-- check out closer "Sweet and Lovely"-- Monk freely associates on the theme under Rouse's solo, responding to the soloist and gently urging him on while Ore and Dunlop lock with the leader. The only exception to the mood of the record is the take of "Just a Gigolo", performed on solo piano, the only really moody piece on the record. Nonetheless, the performance is breathtaking as Monk deconstructs the piece totally.

This reissue is remastered and adds four alternate takes (nearly 30 minutes of unreleased music) to the recording, and features a new liner notes essay as well as reprinting the original notes.

I'm of the opinion (and I seem to be in the minority) that Monk has done better than this one, but it's an awfully good album. Recommended.

This is probaly the best record to go to if one needed to check out Thelonious Monk in a quartet setting, or any setting for that matter.

Most Monk albums have a few of his classic tunes, and a few standards, and this album is no different. It sounds like Monk and the rest of the musicians were very on top with this recording. It's very well arranged, and everyone plays great.

I think one of Monk's best drummers was Frankie Dunlop, and he appears on this album. He had the perfect style for Monk's creative playing, more than Art Blakey and Roy Haynes had for him.

Bye Ya, and Monk's Dream are too tunes that standout, and Bolivar Blues is another Monk classic. I dig them! This whole album is great.

Another thing I realized while listening to this album is just how good a solo pianist Monk is. Sure, everybody knows he had a couple of solo albums out, but not many think of him as a great solo pianist.

Certainly not the most ideal accompianist for a horn man, Monk is exciting and ingenious all the way. This is a classic recording!

Of the dozen or so Monk albums in my collection this album positions itself as one of my top three favorites - with a large margin of endearment. Not unlike other albums released by Monk in the late '50's and beyond, herein Monk spreads out his pieces with lengthy solos and rythmic toying. New renditions of earlier concieved works are laid down with double or more playing time; not something that I find more oft to be a positive attribute.

However, this album is an exception. The essence of these works is not lost during the expanses of soloing and the melodies live beyond the confines of the jewel case. This is the kind of music that you just can't get out of your head and will actually enjoy humming when the CD ain't around. Also noteworthy, sound quality is vastly improved over early recordings of Monk.

If you don't own The Best of the Blue Note Years, it is highly recommended that you purchase both albums. For glimpses of the mad genius, try the video Straight, No Chaser.

This was the first Thelonious Monk album I heard, and instantly I was a fan. Although Monk's Columbia recordings sometimes get a bad rap (did he sellout? was he merely repeating himself after being one of jazz's greatest innvovators?) "Monk's Dream" is probably the best introduction to the world of Monk's music imaginable. The music swings incredibly, and Monk's unique piano stylings stand out like borealis.

One of the most interesting things about Monk's piano playing is his ability to use dissonance to brighten things up. Typically dissonance is associated with dreary or melancholy music. Monk somehow turns dissonance against itself and brightens the music with tone clusters and notes almost impossible to decipher. This is true both in the solos as well as the themes of the songs. The dissonance goes by almost without being noticed, however, and you'll never think he's playing a wrong note. Monk opened up not only jazz but music in general to new sounds and concepts. If you think he can't play piano then you haven't tried playing any of his solos. In the world of music Monk is considered difficult not only physically but conceptually. This CD conatins rich music that will reward repeated listenings for years.

This is undisputably a fantastic record. So much so, I bought it twice... once in the 80s and again when Columbia reissued it in the late 90s. The problem is this, though: the remastered version is kind of different. Most obvious are the name change for "Bolivar Blues" (now called "Blue Bolivar Blues") and the full thirty seconds missing from "Bye-Ya." (It's gone from a 6:00 minute track to 5:30, losing much of the tune the precedes the piano solo.) I've checked around and haven't found an explanation for these differences. Does anyone know?

Regardless, if you don't know the original, this won't matter to you. So buy away!

When I first started to really ''get'' jazz 3 years ago, I had a rather personal technique to decide if a record was really good or not to me: After listening once,if I was able to remember each song, it was a good sign.
When I bought Monks Dream I had the music in my head all night and ever since!!!
This has happened only 4 times since. For Kind of Blue ( no surprise), Giant Steps, the Blues and the Abstract truth and Monks dream.
There are some really good recording out there but this is really a 10 out of 10! A must in any form (CD, vinyl....)

I bought(and still own!) this album new in the mid 60's (in mono!!)I just burned a copy for my young nephew who is a jazz fan.This album is the essence of jazz.Straight ahead,swingin',kick a--- jazz.I was fortunate to see Monk at the Vanguard and this album comes as close to a live recording as possible.Enjoy!