Riffin

Thelonious Monk | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (January 1, 2001)
• Label: Sony Special Product
• ASIN: B000062TC0
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,828,760 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. 'Round Midnight

2. Just a Gigolo

3. Epistrophy

4. Trinkle, Tinkle

5. Nice Work if You Can Get It

6. Brilliant Corners

7. Crepuscule With Nellie

8. Tea for Two

9. Rhythm-A-Ning

10. Five Spot Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Three Sides of Monk, May 20, 2011

By 

Rockin' Royce Williams - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riffin' (Audio CD)

There are a lot of compilations of Monk's "Best" work available, but what makes this one unique is that you get to hear Monk playing in three different settings: By himself, with a quartet, and with a big band. This CD is a mixture of mostly studio tracks and some live concert recordings. The studio tracks, however, are the best material here, especially with Monk playing solo. Contained here is the absolutely gorgeous "'Round Midnight", one of his signature tunes. "Nice Work if You Can Get It" is a real up-tempo number that has almost a Ragtime feel to it. Then there's Monk's interpretation of the classic standard "Tea for Two". The closing track, "Five Spot Blues", which features Monk with his quartet, really swings and has a catchy piano riff that you just might find yourself whistling later.

I thought the live cuts, "Epistrophy" and "Brilliant Corners", were a disappointment for two reasons: First, these are the tracks where Monk is backed up by a big band. Monk's piano seems to take a back seat on these particular tracks and is overpowered by all the horns ( I find that I prefer to hear Monk play with smaller ensembles or solo.) Second, the recording quality is not the best on these live tracks. There seems to be too much echo.

This is a budget-priced CD, and that's especially evident by that fact that it contains no booklet or liner notes whatsoever. It's a small thing to overlook, though. For only a couple of bucks, you're getting a good sampling of some fine jazz piano music by one of The Greats.