The other two - "Green Chimneys," with quartet, and "Raise Four," from the trio date - aren't quite to that level, but in my opinion every Monk original is a treasure worthy of the canon. But, as others have mentioned, the album also contains four original songs that appear here for the first (and in some cases only) time, and two of them ("Ugly Beauty" and "Boo Boo's Birthday") are, in my opinion, nothing short of top-shelf Monk compositions. And, for a reason that I'm sure is explained in liner notes and biographies but which I have since forgotten, the album closes with a version of "In Walked Bud" containing a vocal by the singer Jon Hendricks that is arguably the most out-of-place thing in Monk's entire discography. Not bad performances, but not amazing ones, and it does break the flow a bit. If memory serves, Rouse didn't show for one of the dates, so a few takes on the album are trio only.
Before hitting any of the Columbia era output I'd recommend someone go through - Round Midnight: The Complete Blue Note Singles Thelonious Monk Trio (a great album that pulls together two brilliant early '50s trio dates for Prestige originally released on separate 10" LPs) the Vogue solo piano recordings from Paris in 1954 the Riverside albums: Brilliant Corners, Thelonious Himself, Monk's Music, Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, Monk with Coltrane at Carnegie Hall, Thelonious in Action, Misterioso, Alone in San Francisco.then, maybe Underground. Not that I don't enjoy some of the '60s Monk recordings, in particular some of the live ones, but I don't consider them "essential" Monk listening. the version on Monk, I think there's quite a step down on display.įor me, almost none of the Columbia recordings is "essential" Monk, however, the one that comes closest is Underground, which featured a bunch of new Monk compositions, the first new compositions we had gotten from the man in quite some time. I think if you compare, say, the solo ideas on the Columbia solo "Ruby My Dear," to any of the previous "Ruby My Dears" - in particularly the the wildely inventive Blue Note recording, or the lovely, mellifluous Alone in SF recording or the solo ideas on the version of "Liza" from the first Riverside album vs. He's a much less inventive soloist and he pretty much stops composing. Many people, myself included, feel like Monk's playing (along, apparently with his mental health) was in quite audible decline after around 1958 or 1959.
Click to expand.There are quite disparate opinions on Monk's Columbia recordings.