Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane

Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
Studio album by Thelonious Monk
Released	ca. October 1961 [1]
Recorded	April 16, 1957 June 25–26, 1957 July, 1957
Studio	Reeves Sound Studios, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	37:37
Label	Jazzland
Producer	Orrin Keepnews
Thelonious Monk chronology
Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk (1960) Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (1961) Monk's Dream (1963)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Down Beat	[2]
Allmusic	[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[6]

Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane is a 1961 album by Thelonious Monk issued on Jazzland Records, a subsidiary of Riverside Records. It consists of material recorded four years earlier when Monk worked extensively with John Coltrane, issued after Coltrane had become a leader and jazz star in his own right.

The original LP was assembled by the label with material from three different sessions. The impetus for the album was the discovery of three usable studio tracks recorded by the Monk Quartet with Coltrane in July 1957 at the beginning of the band's six-month residency at New York's legendary Five Spot club near Cooper Square. ^[7] To round out the release, producer Keepnews included two outtakes from the Monk's Music album recorded the previous month, and one additional outtake from Thelonious Himself recorded in April. ^[8]

The original LP contained the first 6 tracks, and was reissued in 2000 on Fantasy Records as part of its series for back catalogue using the JVC 20-bit K2 coding system. The take of "Monk's Mood" from Thelonious Himself was added as a bonus track to the 2000 reissue. Because of the historical significance of this album it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007. ^[9] The album and musicians were referred to in code and used as the delivery method for the mission briefing in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015).

Track listing

All selections by Thelonious Monk except as indicated.

Side one

1. “Ruby, My Dear” – 6:17
2. “Trinkle, Tinkle” – 6:37
3. “Off Minor [take 4]” – 5:10

Side two

4. “Nutty” – 6:35
5. “Epistrophy” (Kenny Clarke, Monk) – 3:07
6. “Functional [take 1]” – 9:46

CD Reissue 2010 bonus track

7. "Monk's Mood" – 7:52

Sessions ^[10]

• Track 1, 2 and 4 recorded July, 1957.
• Tracks 3 and 5 recorded June 25–26, 1957 ( Monk's Music session outtakes)
• Track 6 and 7 recorded April 16, 1957. ( Thelonious Himself session outtake [6] and re-release [7])

Personnel

• Thelonious Monk – piano
• John Coltrane – tenor saxophone, tracks 1–5, 7
• Ray Copeland – trumpet on "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy"
• Gigi Gryce – alto saxophone on "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy"
• Coleman Hawkins – tenor saxophone on "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy"
• Wilbur Ware – bass on all except for "Functional"
• Shadow Wilson – drums on "Ruby, My Dear", "Trinkle, Tinkle" and "Nutty"
• Art Blakey – drums on "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy"

References

1. Lewis Porter, Chris DeVito, David Wild, Yasuhiro Fujioka, Wolf Schmaler (2013). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge. p. 476. ISBN   978-1135112578. Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, released ca. Oct. 1961
2. Down Beat: December 21, 1961 Vol. 28, No. 26
3. Allmusic review
4. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 145. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
5. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
6. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1021. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
7. Ira Gitler, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane Jazzland JCD 46-2, 2000, liner notes.
8. Gitler, liner notes.
9. Grammy Hall of Fame
10. "» Sessionography 1955-1957".