Track Listing

1. Humph
2. Evonce
3. Suburban Eyes
4. Thelonious
5. Evonce
6. Suburban Eyes
7. Nice Work If You Can Get It
8. Ruby, My Dear
9. Well You Needn't
10. April in Paris
11. Off Minor
12. Introspection
13. Nice Work If You Can Get It [Alternate Take]
14. Ruby, My Dear [Alternate Take]
15. Well, You Needn't [Alternate Take]
16. April in Paris [Alternate Take]
17. In Walked Bud
18. Monk's Mood
19. Who Knows?
20. 'Round Midnight
21. Who Knows? [Alternate Take]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31685 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1

Amazon.com
These late-'40s recordings are culled from Thelonious Monk's first recording sessions as a leader. The components of the pianist-composer's singular style were firmly in place: the cubist pianism, spiky melodicism, edgy wit, and profound sense of time, accent, and sonority. In the main, trio numbers like the haunting "Ruby My Dear" or the quirky recasting of Gershwin's "Nice Work If You Can Get It" come off best. The cuts with horns, on the other hand, seem artfully cluttered and unsettled in comparison to the cohesion and purposefulness of Monk's magnificent Riverside recordings from the '50s--all of them collected on the magisterial 15-CD Complete Riverside Recordings box set. Still and all, Monk's Blue Notes sound better than ever in these remasterings from the best source material extant. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews

ESSENTIAL
These were not the first times Thelonious was recorded but this is a perfect place to begin an appriciation him. Monk would go on to record for Prestige, Riverside (possibly his best work), and Columbia but these are his first important recordings (from '47) and this set contains many classics. There is also an equally valuable second volume (from '52) and both are included in the Blue Note box. This is, however, the best way to cheaply acquaint yourself with Monk. Some of the highlights include the beautiful "Ruby My Dear," Well, You Needn't," and Thelonious' first recording of his bop standard "'Round Midnight," the quintessential "late night" theme. Monk bypasses the usual nostalgic, melancholy interpretation of his song and reveals a more sinister, down-and-out desperation at its' core and the "late night" experience in general.

Early Monk
These 1947 recordings are among the earliest documents we have of piano genius and jazz pioneer Thelonious Sphere Monk. It's hard to believe that he was finally hailed with acclaim in 1957 for ideas he'd had 10 years earlier! When listening to these tracks, you should keep a couple of things in mind. First, recording technology wasn't too hot in 1947, and you can't expect the pristine, Rudy Van Gelder sound quality of 50s jazz. (Though compared to the 89 reissue, this Van Gelder edition sounds phenomenal.) Second, some of Monk's sidemen on this album didn't understand the new bop style very well, and were even more clueless on Monk's advanced ideas. (Even Art Blakey, one of Monk's best accompanists in the 50s, sounds a little confused here.) But these complaints aside, there's really phenomenal music here; tracks 7-16 (a trio with Blakey and bassist Gene Ramey) are especially marvelous, with classic recordings of Monk staples "Off Minor", "Ruby My Dear", "Well You Needn't" and "Introspection" as well as typically quirky takes on two standards ("April in Paris" and "Nice Work If You Can Get It"). The rest of the tracks are not quite up to the same standard due to the sidemen (Sahib Shihab provides the oddest alto saxophone sound ever on "Monk's Mood") but are still exciting. This set of 21 songs isn't quite as strong as Genius of Modern Music Volume 2, yet definitely essential for the Monk enthusiast.

Piece of art
Been a Monk fan for a long time, I have considered this album a "must have" for every jazz fan around the world. Monk pianism is brilliant and ideas are flowing all through the recording. Monk is to jazz what Velazquez is to painting!!!!