Thelonious Monk

DIGIPACK EDITION

At the time of this recording, Thelonious Monk was at both a creative and critical peak. He had recently signed with Columbia Records, notably one of the biggest jazz labels in the world at the time, and the following year became the third jazz musician in history to appear on the cover of Time Magazine

The Classic Quartet is comprised of Charlie Rouse, Butch Warren, and Frankie Dunlop. The recording captures what is undoubtedly one of the very best sets of the era. The songs, classic Monk repertoire, will be familiar to any Monk fan. That includes what is by all accounts an exceptional version of one of Monk’s favorite standards, “Just A Gigolo.”

This recording is the audio portion of a television show recorded in Tokyo during Monk’s 1963 tour of Japan.

PERSONNEL:

• Charlie Rouse - (tenor sax)
• Thelonious Monk - (piano)
• Butch Warren - (bass)
• Frankie Dunlop - (drums)

TRACKS:

• 01. Epistrophy
• 02. Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are
• 03. Evidence
• 04. Just A Gigolo
• 05. Blue Monk