Customer Reviews

Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins (20 Bit Mastering)

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Like a lot of Prestige "albums" recorded in the pre-LP era, Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins actually a mishmash of various sessions and leftovers tossed into one (very brief) package. There are three Monk albums on Prestige -- this one, The Thelonious Monk Trio, and MONK; each one draws from multiple sessions, and several of the sessions overlap across albums. (This is also an issue with Monk's Christmas Eve 1954 recordings under Miles Davis's name.)

This album is noteworthy for featuring two different occasions on which Monk teamed up with then-up-&-coming tenorist Sonny Rollins. Though Monk's other saxophone partnerships -- the long-term one with Charlie Rouse, and the short-term one with John Coltrane (can't forget Johnny Griffin either) -- get more notoriety, he and Rollins meshed very well. They'd reunite on Monk's Brilliant Corners (on Riverside) and Rollins's Volume 2 (on Blue Note). Though Rollins isn't quite at his mid/late-50s peak, he plays exceptionally well here. This is definitely some of my favorite pre-1955 Sonny.

The first two tracks come from a 1954 quartet session. I have to emphatically disagree with one of the other reviewers about this music being substandard. On the contrary, "The Way You Look Tonight" is an absolutely superlative performance, and "I Want to Be Happy" is close behind. Sonny is just on fire here. It's true that Monk takes a relatively back-seat role compared to his work as a leader, but Spheroids can rejoice in his fascinating comping and an inspired solo on the 2nd track.

The fifth track comes from a 1953 quintet session, with Julius Watkins joining in on French horn. Their low rumbling on the goofy theme of "Friday the 13th" is great. The sound on this session is poorer than the quartet session (Van Gelder didn't engineer this one). Rollins doesn't match his playing on the 1954 recordings, but still plays very well. Watkins's French horn (muted, I believe) produces a sound somewhere between a trumpet and a trombone. Monk's solo is terrific. Near the end Sonny and Julius trade bars, with Monk joining as a participant after a few exchanges.

Then we have tracks 3 and 4, left over from one of the component sessions of The Thelonious Monk Trio (the same session that debuted "Blue Monk"). "Work" is indeed a classic and overlooked Monk tune, but "Nutty" is equally good and has a really nice Art Blakey solo.

If you're fan of Monk and/or Rollins this album is absolutely essential. Whether you get it in this form, or as part of the Complete Prestige Recordings box (which might make more sense from a budgetary standpoint-- the Prestige albums are all ridiculously short), get it. Monk did some of his best work for Prestige.

Only 3 out of 5 tracks with Sonny, but the 1st cut alone (The Way You Look Tonight) will justify your purchase, it's a high point in recorded jazz. Every track is very good. The 2 trio numbers are high in energy,(Blakey/Heath) especially "Work", one of the more complex and yet strangely funky tunes in Monk's catalog.

this disc is blazing.these two pioneers are smoking on this disc.songs such as friday the 13th,work,i want to be happy.the piano&sax never has sounded as great as this before or since.this is genius.

A collection of tracks from no less than three drastically different sessions, "Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins" is a record that feels like a collection of sessions.

The first two tracks-- standards "The Way You Look Tonight" and "I Want to Be Happy" are from a session with Rollins as leader and Monk on piano, with Tommy Potter and Aruther Taylor filling the bass and drum shoes. Both pieces are decent enough, Monk clearly decided to allow Rollins to shine as leader on the date and with the exception of a brief solo on "I Want to Be Happy", his voice is fairly recessed. Still, while both performances are decent, neither are particularly gripping.

The next two tracks-- Monk originals "Work" and "Nutty", are leftovers from the "Thelonious Monk Trio" record, with Monk joined by Percy Heath and Art Blakey. These far somewhat better. The only known recording of "Work" by Monk (though Steve Lacy would record it several years later), the piece is incredibly difficult, with a rolling melody statement and a totally bizarre rhythmic feel to it-- Monk is brilliant and agile, and his performance is well worth hearing. "Nutty", then a new composition, is an exciting piece with a deceptively agile theme, receiving a great workout by the trio-- again Monk's performance is brilliant and Heath takes a stunningly agile bass solo.

The final track, "Friday the 13th", was recorded on that date in November of 1953 in a famous session that was delayed due to Monk and Rollins being in a car accident (no one was hurt). The band was joined by french hornist Julius Watkins (replacing a musician who became sick at the last minute), with Percy Heath and Willie Jones filling out the rhythm duties. Monk plays a decending riff and Rollins and Watkins harmonize delicately the swaying line of the piece before moving into solos. Rollins is fairly inventive, but sounds a bit tentative, and Monk steals the show out from under him with his brilliant accompaniment.

Sonically, this issue sounds great-- the Prestige reissues in the slip cases all sound superb, quite frankly and are worth the reinvestment. But this particular issue is not one of the better of Monk's catalog-- I've never been a fan of leftovers albums to begin with, and this shows why. The total lack of consistency ruins the otherwise decent music's presentation for me.