Thelonious Monk - The Complete Riverside Recordings (1988)

The studio and live recording sessions that Thelonious Monk cut during his six-year stay at the Riverside label are compiled over the 15 discs in the Complete Riverside Recordings. This middle era – between his early sides for Prestige and the final ones for Columbia – is generally considered Monk's most ingenious and creative period. The sessions are presented in chronological order, accurately charting the progression and diversions of one of the most genuinely enigmatic figures in popular music. The Complete Riverside Recordings explores Monk's genius with a certain degree of real-time analysis that simply listening to each of the individual albums from this era lacks. This is due in part to the 14 additional performances exclusive to this collection. However, a more satisfying level of assessing Monk's indelible marks of extemporaneous perfection can be heard within his prankster-like sense of timing or innate penchant for sophisticated arrangements. Among the sessions captured on this exhaustive set are the Duke Ellington sides and the Sonny Rollins era (which yielded the genre-defining Brilliant Corners), as well as meetings with Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, and Gerry Mulligan. Additionally, the entire Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall performance is presented just as it went down – with solo and quartet sets intact. Accompanying the discs is a 28-page full-size (12"x12") booklet that is indispensable in dispelling myths and making sense of the convoluted and seemingly random order in which many of these recordings have been previously issued. It also contains a complete sessionography annotated by Monk's producer during this era, Orrin Keepnews. This is a convenient, albeit pricey way to obtain all of this remarkable music.//Lindsay Planer, allmusic.com

Tracklist:

CD 1:

01 - It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
02 - Sophisticated Lady
03 - I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
04 - Black And Tan Fantasy
05 - Mood Indigo
06 - I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
07 - Solitude
08 - Caravan
09 - Liza, All The Clouds'll Roll Away
10 - Memories Of You
11 - Honeysuckle Rose
12 - Darn That Dream
13 - Tea For Two

CD: 2

01 - You Are Too Beautiful
02 - Just You, Just Me
03 - Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are
04 - Pannonica-opening
05 - Pannonica
06 - Brilliant Corners
07 - Bemsha Swing
08 - I Surrender, Dear

CD: 3

01 - I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You (Take 5)
02 - I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You (Take 7)
03 - I Should Care (Take 1)
04 - I Should Care (Take 2)
05 - I Should Care (Take 3)
06 - 'Round Midnight-In Progress
07 - 'Round Midnight (Take 7)
08 - April In Paris
09 - I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
10 - Monk's Mood-False Start
11 - Monk's Mood

CD: 4

01 - Functional (Take 1-alternate)
02 - Functional (Take 2)
03 - All Alone
04 - Crepuscule With Nellie (Take 1)
05 - Crepuscule With Nellie-Breakdown
06 - Blues For Tomorrow
07 - Off Minor (Take 4-alternate)
08 - Off Minor (Take 5)
09 - Abide With Me
10 - Crepuscule With Nellie (Take 4/5)
11 - Crepuscule With Nellie (Take 6)

CD: 5

01 - Epistrophy-fragment
02 - Epistrophy
03 - Well, You Needn't-opening
04 - Well, You Needn't
05 - Ruby, My Dear
06 - Ruby, My Dear
07 - Nutty
08 - Trinkle, Tinkle
09 - Straight, No Chaser (Take 1-alternate)
10 - Straight, No Chaser (Take 3)
11 - Rhythm-A-Ning

CD: 6

01 - I Mean You (Take 1-alternate)
02 - I Mean You (Take 2-alternate)
03 - I Mean You (Take 4)
04 - 'Round Midnight
05 - Decidedly (Take 4)
06 - Decidedly (Take 5)
07 - Sweet And Lovely
08 - Coming On The Hudson
09 - In Orbit
10 - One Foot In The Gutter

CD: 7

01 - Trust In Me
02 - Let's Cool One
03 - Pea Eye
04 - Argentia
05 - Moonlight Fiesta
06 - Buck's Business
07 - Flugelin' The Blues
08 - Very Near Blue
09 - Evidence
10 - Blues Five Spot
11 - In Walked Bud/Epistrophy (theme)

CD: 8

01 - Unidentified Solo Piano
02 - 'Round Midnight
03 - Bye-Ya/Epistrophy (theme)
04 - Light Blue
05 - Coming On The Hudson
06 - Rhythm-A-Ning
07 - Just A Gigolo
08 - Blue Monk
09 - Evidence
10 - Epistrophy (Theme)

CD: 9

01 - Nutty
02 - Blues Five Spot
03 - Let's Cool One
04 - In Walked Bud
05 - Misterioso
06 - Epistrophy (theme-#2)
07 - In Walked Bud
08 - Blue Monk

CD: 10

01 - Rhythm-A-Ning
02 - Monk's Mood
03 - Friday The 13th
04 - Little Rootie Tootie
05 - Off Minor
06 - Thelonious
07 - Crepuscule With Nellie
08 - Little Rootie Tootie-Encore

CD: 11

01 - Played Twice (Take 1-2nd alternate)
02 - Played Twice (Take 2-alternate)
03 - Played Twice (Take 3)
04 - Straight, No Chaser
05 - Ask Me Now
06 - I Mean You
07 - Jackie-Ing
08 - Round Lights
09 - Pannonica
10 - Blue Monk

CD: 12

01 - Ruby, My Dear
02 - There's Danger In Your Eyes, Cherie (Take 1-alternate)
03 - There's Danger In Your Eyes, Cherie (Take 2)
04 - Everything Happens To Me
05 - Reflections
06 - Remember
07 - Bluehawk
08 - You Took The Words Right Out Of My Heart
09 - San Francisco Holiday
10 - Just You, Just Me
11 - 'Round Midnight
12 - San Francisco Holiday (Take 2-Alternate)

CD: 13

01 - I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
02 - Evidence
03 - Epistrophy (theme)
04 - Epistrophy
05 - Four In One (Take 1)
06 - Let's Call This
07 - 'Round Midnight
08 - San Francisco Holiday (Worry Later) (Take 3)
09 - Four In One (Take 2)
10 - Epistrophy (theme)

CD: 14

01 - Well, You Needn't
02 - Crepuscule With Nellie
03 - Jackie-Ing
04 - Body And Soul
05 - Off Minor
06 - April In Paris
07 - I Mean You
08 - Rhythm-A-Ning
09 - Just A Gigolo

CD: 15

01 - Hackensack
02 - Epistrophy
03 - I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
04 - Jackie-Ing
05 - Body And Soul
06 - Straight, No Chaser
07 - Crepuscle With Nellie
08 - Bemsha Swing
09 - San Francisco Holiday
10 - Rhythm-A-Ning
11 - Epistrophy

Musicians:

Ahmed Abdul-Malik (Bass), Pepper Adams (Sax Baritone), Eddie Bert (Trombone), Art Blakey (Drums), Donald Byrd (Trumpet), Paul Chambers (Bass), Kenny Clarke (Drums), John Coltrane (Sax Tenor, Performer), Ray Copeland (Trumpet), Frankie Dunlop (Drums), Joe Gordon (Trumpet), Johnny Griffin (Sax Tenor), Gigi Gryce (Sax Alto), Coleman Hawkins (Sax Tenor, Performer), Roy Haynes (Drums), Ernie Henry (Sax Alto), Billy Higgins (Drums), Philly Joe Jones (Drums), Sam Jones (Bass), Thad Jones (Cornet), Harold Land (Sax Tenor), Shelly Manne (Drums), Jay McAllister (Tuba), Thelonious Monk (Piano, Celeste), Gerry Mulligan (Sax Baritone), Bob Northern (French Horn), John Ore (Bass), Oscar Pettiford (Bass), Max Roach (Drums, Tympani), Sonny Rollins (Sax Tenor), Charlie Rouse (Sax Tenor), Art Taylor (Drums), Clark Terry (Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Wilbur Ware (Bass), Shadow Wilson (Drums), Phil Woods (Sax Alto).