Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Monk Speaks
2. Bye-Ya
3. Coming On The Hudson
4. Rhythm-A-Ning
5. Think Of One
6. Pannonica
7. Crepuscule With Nellie
8. April In Paris
9. Ugly Beauty
10. Honeysuckle Rose
11. In Walked Bud
12. Thelonious

Disc 2:

1. Reflections
2. Blue Monk
3. 'Round Midnight
4. Dinah
5. Ask Me Now
6. Ruby, My Dear
7. Don't Blame Me
8. (When It's) Darkness On The Delta
9. Played Twice
10. I Mean You
11. Bemsha Swing
12. Jackie-ing

Disc 3:

1. Nutty
2. Straight, No Chaser
3. Evidence
4. Epistrophy
5. Well, You Needn't
6. Misterioso
7. Hackensack
8. Bright Mississippi

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68093 in Music
• Released on: 2001-06-19
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
While occasionally maligned, Thelonious Monk's '60s recordings for Columbia yielded many moments of warmth and ingenuity. His first two albums for the label, Monk's Dream and Criss-Cross, rank among his very best; the latter demonstrated the company's success in raising his profile, becoming in 1963 his sole LP to place on the pop charts. This three-CD box, like the 2000 collection of Prestige sessions, aims to push Monk's '60s music into the spotlight shared by his Blue Note and Riverside classics. While deviled by a handful of questionable choices, The Columbia Years for the most part succeeds.

As Peter Keepnews's liner notes point out, Monk spent an inordinate amount of his time at Columbia rerecording his established repertoire, dipping into not only his own stock of compositions, but favorite standards such as "April in Paris." Often supported by the excellent likes of saxophonist Charlie Rouse and drummer Ben Riley, Monk made trio and quartet versions of such classics into keepers. He also continued his sporadic work with larger groups in settings both sublime (the performances here of "Evidence" and "Epistrophy," recorded during the 1967 European tour captured in the documentary Straight, No Chaser) and misguided (the Oliver Nelson-led Monk's Blues sessions that nonetheless supply this set's lovely, bracing "Reflections").

Unfortunately, in concentrating on Monk's best-known titles, The Columbia Years misses his more than worthwhile forays off the beaten path. The pianist's reading of "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (from the '67 Straight, No Chaser disc), for instance, is one of his slyest, most musically complete stretchings of a theme; ranging from stately to a stride-like bounce over nearly eight minutes, it would have proved the centerpiece of the box. The inclusion of a listless alternate take of "Honeysuckle Rose" near the end of disc 1 also baffles.

Still, The Columbia Years mostly dazzles, with Monk reveling in his heightened fame and, of course, his music. Listen long before deriding the best of the work here: it's the sound of one of America's greatest musician-composers continuing to challenge himself on his own terms. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Making a Profit on the Prophet
Monk's idiosyncratic style is a jewel in the crown of jazz. This three-CD box, meant to be a survey of his best work for Columbia, holds some interest, but his finest work was on Blue Note, Prestige and Riverside. In fact, the lion's share of the songs on "The Columbia Years" previously had been recorded for one of the above mentioned labels.

Further, "The Columbia Years" includes lots of previously unissued takes and restored versions of previously edited takes. This would be fine for a Monk "rarities" album, but not for a purported "best of" collection. The only reason for their inclusion in place of the takes previously deemed superior is to encourage sales of the box to those Monk completests who have most of the original versions of songs on "The Columbia Years" already. Thus, those of us who want the best of the Columbia years have to settle for obscurities to attract more sales in place of important, quality recordings for Columbia that were left off in their stead.

Finally, the packaging, though innovative and nice looking, is not user friendly and does not securely hold or protect the discs.

All in all this compilation is a bust. For a better survey of his genius, I would recommend these far superior single-disc collections: "The Best of Thelonious Monk: The Blue Note Years (Blue Note)," "Thelonious Monk (Prestige)," and "Thelonious Monk and the Jazz Giants (Riverside)." These three individual discs contain about two-thirds of the songs on the three discs comprising "The Columbia Years" and many Monk "hits" not recorded for Columbia or not in this album. And these individual discs provide a large variety of supporting players, who happen to be a "who's who" of jazz legends as well: John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan, Harold Land, Thad Jones, Johnny Griffin, Phil Woods, Philly Jo Jones, Clark Terry, Donald Byrd, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Milt Jackson, Kenny Dorham, Lou Donaldson, Paul Chambers, etc.--UNLIKE "The Columbia Years" with its very limited supporting cast.

great intro to one of jazz's finest
Thelonious Monk was a true musical innovator. Applying his profound imagination to traditional stride & swing styles, his technique provoked the far reaches of bebop and inspired the abstractions of jazz to come. However, as impressive as all this may sound, Monk's work for Columbia has taken a lot of flak over the years. Some people say all he did during this period was rerecord extended versions of his 'greatest hits,' and to a certain extent, that's true. But don't believe for a second that the music he produced during this era was below Monk's standards.

The folks at Sony just released a mostly excellent 3CD boxed set entitled The Columbia Years. Split between live and studio sessions, the box contains several previously unreleased & newly restored performances from the entire catalog. His first two albums for the label, Monk's Dream and Criss-Cross, are among his best--the latter becoming his only album to make it onto the pop charts. Like the recently released Prestige box, this collection aims to push Monk's '60s music into the spotlight shared by his Blue Note and Riverside classics.

Disc one finds Monk in the studio, in trio and quartet settings, beginning with the `semi-unreleased' complete take one of "Bye-Ya." The version that appeared on Monk's Dream was a composite of takes one and three. This marks the first time that the complete first take has been issued. "Think of One" is a previously unreleased take, as is the cover of Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose." One of the coolest tracks on disc one is the vocal version of "In Walked Bud," now restored to its original running time.

The second disc starts with two unreleased takes from the somewhat controversial big-band album, Monk's Blues. Maligned as they may be, the Oliver Nelson-arranged sessions nonetheless produced the lovely "Reflections." You can't have a Monk compilation without "Blue Monk," and this one's no exception. However, there are several versions out there that are far superior to the overblown rendition used here. Up next are five solo piano numbers, including the one that most people associate directly with Monk--"'Round Midnight."

Moving into the live material, disc two continues with three cuts from the superb Big Band and Quartet In Concert album. This was one of Monk's greatest recordings and represents a highpoint in his lengthy career. Recorded at New York's Philharmonic Hall, Monk and his 10-piece band serve up inspired versions of "Played Twice" and his classic collaboration with Coleman Hawkins, "I Mean You."

Disc three is probably the best of the box, getting off to a great start with a rousing live performance of "Nutty" from 1963's Newport Jazz Festival. From there, things move back across the country to the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival in California for a stunning "Straight, No Chaser." The third disc also includes two sublime tracks from the Warner Brothers documentary of the same name--"Evidence" and "Epistrophy." The last four tracks on this CD are taken from Monk's exhilarating gigs at the It Club and the Jazz Workshop.

Overall, The Columbia Years is a fine collection by one of America's greatest composers. As with any compilation like this, each listener is sure to have his or her favorites that aren't included. But as Peter Keepnews states in his liner notes: "Here is the sound of a great artist in his prime, working remarkably fresh variations on his own remarkable repertoire, surrounded by musicians who understand his music and share his vision." You can't ask for anything more than that.

Mature Monk is Pure Magic
Someone asked Monk why he continued to perform and travel and he is rumored to have answered, "To expose the music."
Monk fan's who first encountered him in the 1950s will remember the magic year of 1959: Miles' "Kind of Blue," Monk's "Monk's Dream," Mingus' "Ah Um" and "Dynasty," Brubeck's "Take Five" and soon John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" and "Impressions."
In my mind, those who would listen to Monk fresh will remember that (1) most of Monk's compositions were written and recorded by him before 1950, (2) for me at least, the combination of Monk's piano and Charlie Rouse's tenor with his rhythm sections was the ultimate instrument of the classic Monk recordings (those with Columbia) and, finally (3) the Time Magazine cover story and Columbia's broad distribution were prime reasons for so many listeners to be exposed to "the music" of Monk and the fact that so many classic recordings of his tunes were made by others ("Straight No Chaser," "'Round Midnight," and "Rhythmning" and others -- especially enjoyable are the Tough Tenors -- Lockjaw Davis and Johnny Griffin -- takes on Monk tunes).
Monk's music and his magic muse were marvelous to hear. As he suffered from schizophrenia and no doubt required careful presentation (think of his dances) some "handling" to be permitted to consistently and professionally "expose" his music (think about his wife's gentle and loving "handling" of him in the DVD "Straight No Chaser" documentary) we are privileged to have these wonderful, consistent, professionally recorded and mature recording of a genius of American music by the mature presentation of his chosen accompanists. Sometimes the mature recordings of his unique music through decades of experience and intimate performance can outshine the original recordings.
This is the music presented as Monk struggled so hard to present it in its mature form. We are honored to have the chance to listen to what he wanted us to hear. God Bless Monk.