The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall

Performer: Thelonious Monk
Artist: Donald Byrd; Pepper Adams; Charlie Rouse; Art Taylor; Phil Woods; Sam Jones
Producer: Jules Colomby; Orrin Keepnews
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Thelonious Monk Orchestra: Thelonious Monk (piano); Phil Woods (alto saxophone); Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone); Pepper Adams (baritone saxophone); Donald Byrd (trumpet); Robert Nothern (French horn); Eddie Bert (trombone); Jay McAllister (tuba); Sam Jones (bass); Art Taylor (drums). Recorded live at Town Hall, New York, New York on February 28, 1959. Originally released on Riverside (1138). Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews. Digitally remastered by Joe Tarantino (1989, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California). Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano); Phil Woods (alto saxophone); Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone); Pepper Adams (baritone saxophone); Donald Byrd (trumpet); Robert Northern (French horn); Eddie Bert (trombone); Jay McAllister (tuba); Sam Jones (bass guitar); Art Taylor (drums). Audio Remasterer: Joe Tarantino. Numerous Thelonious Monk live dates were released during his career (and posthumously), but 1959's THE THELONIOUS MONK ORCHESTRA AT TOWN HALL is one of the finest. In large part the album stands out for the novelty of hearing Monk play with a large ensemble. The tentet featured here has the guts and punch of a big band, but the agility of a small group (a necessary quality when rendering Monk's complex, angular tunes). The program features some of the legend's finest compositions, including "Monk's Mood" and "Off Minor," and the playing throughout is first rate. A classic any way you slice it, and the 2007 remaster brings it all into shining crystalline clarity. THE THELONIOUS MONK ORCHESTRA AT TOWN HALL presents the music of the great composer and pianist in a unique milieu. Monk nearly always recorded with a small group, a setting suited to his spare approach to melody and soloing. Fortunately, Monk's compositions proved eminently adaptable to a ten-piece orchestra, as this album clearly demonstrates. The Town Hall concert came at a signature moment in Monk's career, just as greater jazz audiences were beginning to understand his genius. At times dismissed as a crackpot (an image Monk helped perpetuate through his idiosyncratic dress and difficult temperament) whose minimalist playing was mistaken for ineptitude, Monk simply persisted until the world came around to him, which it finally did in the late 1950s. By 1959 he was winning awards and headlining concerts at prestigious venues (such as Town Hall). All the while, Monk stayed true to his muse. On TOWN HALL, Monk's playing is set against Hall Overton's expert big band arrangements of six Monk compositions. There isn't a dull moment on TOWN HALL; highlights include a ten-minute "Monk's Mood" and an Ellington-esque take on "Friday the 13th." Among the stellar soloists are Donald Byrd, Charlie Rouse, and Phil Woods.

Thelonious Monk, underappreciated at the beginning of his career in the 1940s, was eventually recognized as one of the most brilliant figures in modern jazz, with a piano and compositional style that began in a classic stride and then veered off, gloriously, into the stratosphere. In contrast to the more athletic exploits of many beboppers, Monk's idiosyncratic playing was filled with stark contrasts of rhythm, space, and harmony, as if he were carefully unveiling some ancient wisdom. His death in 1982 left a void in jazz that could never be filled. However, Monk's songs live on in his remarkable recordings, and his influence is continually present in the work of hundreds of contemporary musicians.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25