About

A TAV Essential Listening Album.

“Big Band and Quartet in Concert is the fifth album Thelonious Monk released for Columbia Rec-ords, featuring several Monk compositions. It was recorded live at Lincoln Center, Philharmonic Hall, New York, New York on December 30, 1963.

It was called by reviewer Scott Yanow "essential for all jazz collections". – Wiki

“Thelonious Monk could walk from his flat to New York's famous Philharmonic Hall on the corner of 64th Street and Broadway when he made his very first appearance there with his Big Band in De-cember 1963. And the other musicians could get there on the underground: Phil Woods, Steve Lacy, Thad Jones — all of them were members of Monk's closest circle of collaborators.

It is no wonder then that the well-known themes were highly agreeable and harmonious. "I Mean You," "Four In One" and "Epistrophy" resounded through the auditorium, the audience was thrilled, Thelonious laughed and danced and a short while later fans could listen to parts of the concert on a recording released by Columbia Records. In a break for a smoke, Monk sat himself down at the piano and played "Darkness On The Delta" — nocturnal atmosphere pure.

Does it bear the patina of times long past? Absolutely not! Thelonious Monk is as red-hot as he ever was.” – Acoustic Sounds

“This is one of pianist-composer Thelonious Monk's greatest recordings and represents a high point in his career. Performing at Philharmonic Hall in New York, Monk is heard taking an unaccompanied solo on "Darkness on the Delta" and jamming with his quartet (which had Charlie Rouse on tenor, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Frank Dunlop) on fine versions of "Played Twice" and a previ-ously unreleased rendition of "Misterioso."

However, this .. set has its most memorable moments during the six full-length performances by a ten-piece group. Monk's quartet was joined by cornetist Thad Jones, trumpeter Nick Travis, Steve Lacy on soprano, altoist Phil Woods, baritonist Gene Allen, and trombonist Eddie Bert. Jones and Woods have plenty of solos and, although Lacy surprisingly does not have any individual spots, his soprano is a major part of some of the ensembles. Most remarkable is "Four in One," which after one of Monk's happiest (and very rhythmic) solos features the orchestra playing a Hal Overton transcription of a complex and rather exuberant Monk solo taken from his original record.

This … set is a gem and can be considered essential for all jazz collections.” - AllMusic

Musicians:

• Thelonious Monk - piano
• Charlie Rouse - tenor sax
• Butch Warren - bass
• Frank Dunlop - drums
• Thad Jones - cornet
• Nick Travis - trumpept
• Steve Lacy - soprano sax
• Phil Woods - alto sax, clarinet
• Gene Allen - baritone sax, clarinet
• Eddie Bert - trombone

About Thelonious Monk:

“Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917 - 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, includ-ing "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser" "Ruby, My Dear", "In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington, which is particularly remarkable as Ellington composed more than 1,000 pieces, whereas Monk wrote about 70.

His compositions and improvisations feature dissonances and angular melodic twists, and are con-sistent with Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations.

He was renowned for his distinctive style in suits, hats, and sunglasses. He was also noted for an idio-syncratic habit observed at times during performances: while the other musicians in the band contin-ued playing, he would stop, stand up from the keyboard, and dance for a few moments before return-ing to the piano.

Monk is one of five jazz musicians to have been featured on the cover of Time, after Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, and Duke Ellington and before Wynton Marsalis.” - Wiki

Features of this audiophile reissue:

• 180g 2LP-set from ORG Music
• Mastered from the original analog tapes by Grammy Award Winner Bernie Grundman
• Pressed at Pallas in Germany
• Previously out of press for over two decades
• First ever double LP pressing

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