Thelonious Monk

• MASTERWORKS COLORED SERIES

• LIMITED 180 GRAM VINYL

• 5 STARS DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

• INCLUDES 2 BONUS TRACKS

"But the album title really goes further than that. This is Thelonious Monk’s music in the most complete sense. These sessions have been particularly valued for the presence of Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane, two saxophone giants from different generations. Some accounts of the recordings devote more space to the horns than to the leader. So listen carefully to how humbly Coltrane plays on “Ruby My Dear”. He was still an emerging artist, to be sure, but his command of the instrument was complete and he didn’t usually play with this reserve. Hawkins, by contrast, is determined to make his presence felt. He even comes in at the wrong place a couple of times." - Penguin Guide to jazz

"Playing Thelonious Monk’s music is always a challenge. Even the greatest performers were frequently puzzled by hiscompositions. During the sessions that produced this album, now considered among the pianist’s masterworks, Coleman Hawkins, the “inventor” of the tenor saxophone in jazz, and John Coltrane, one of Hawk’s most celebrated disciples, tried to unravel the various secrets hidden in Monk’s scores, to get as close as they could to the mysterious beauty of his music. " - Jazz Magazine

PERSONNEL:

• Thelonious Monk - piano
• Coleman Hawkins & John Coltrane - tenor sax
• Gigi Gryce - alto sax
• Ray Copeland - trumpet
• Wilbur Ware - bass
• Art Blakey - drums

New York, June 26, 1957.

• (*) BONUS TRACKS:
• A4: John Coltrane (ts), Thelonious Monk (p), Wilbur Ware (b), Shadow Wilson (d).
• New York, July 1957.
• B4: Thelonious Monk (unaccompanied piano).
• Paris, France, June 7, 1954.

TRACKS:

• SIDE A:
• 01 ABIDE WITH ME
• 02 WELL YOU NEEDN’T
• 03 RUBY, MY DEAR [featuring Coleman Hawkins]
• 04 RUBY, MY DEAR (*) [featuring John Coltrane]

• SIDE B:
• 01 OFF MINOR
• 02 EPISTROPHY
• 03 CREPUSCULE WITH NELLIE
• 04 ‘ROUND MIDNIGHT (*)