Track Listing

1. Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)
2. April in Paris
3. Children's Song (That Old Man)
4. I Love You (Sweetheart of All My Dreams)
5. Just You, Just Me
6. Pannonica [Re-Take 2]
7. Teo
8. April in Paris [Take 1][#][*]
9. Pannonica [Take 2][#][*]
10. Medley: Just You, Just Me/Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away) [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157428 in Music
• Released on: 2002-09-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
The familiar "formula" that Monk utilized throughout most of his '60s tenure at Columbia was firmly in place on this, his fourth album for the label. But that recipe--originals sprinkled with covers, played by a quartet of familiar sidemen (veteran tenor sax accomplice Charlie Rouse, newer compatriots Ben Riley on drums, and bassist Larry Gales)--proves deceptively facile on the expanded reissue of this 1965 album. While Gershwin's elegant "Liza" and the standard "April in Paris" are perfect fodder for the pianist's harmonic and rhythmic tweaking, his playful take on the children's song "That Old Man" ably demonstrates how the musician could recast even the most foursquare composition in his own likeness. Even more revealing is Monk's solo exploration of the hoary "I Love You (Sweetheart of My Dreams)," a performance where his left hand seems to mine the stride foundations of his beloved J.P. Johnson, while his right flits restlessly in a different half-century. Rouse takes rewarding turns in the spotlight on "Just You, Just Me" and "Pannonica" (the latter normally a Monk solo excursion), a track that's also featured in a previously unreleased bonus outtake, along with the first take of "April in Paris," cuts that ably attest to Monk's mercurial range within a single session. The bonus, a largely improvised medley of "Just You, Just Me/Liza," also stands as testament to the intuitive bond between Monk and Rouse. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Solid CD rewards repeat listening...
This one's a recent reissue and gives 68 minutes of pleasure. Perhaps it is just a hair below "Monk's Dream" in overall excitement, but the distinction is a small one. Personal taste has to come into play when rating one Monk release against another, because there do not seem to be any failures. On this 1964 effort with Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, plus bass and drums, Thelonious tackles the standard "April in Paris" in two takes occupying 16 minutes. While you can certainly recognize the tune in each version, he and the group do intriguing things with it. A novelty on here is "Children's Song", also known as "This Old Man, He Play One" and Monk's sense of fun is contagious. The whole thing is good, and if you have earphones, give this CD an hour of total attention in an intimate way. Once you do that, then having it on the living room machine or on in the car will be even more enjoyable, despite distractions and conversations. Many people seem to feel Monk strayed too far from conventional melody too often. I own seven of his CD's now, and that's not a complaint I share. I hear him teasing, departing, experimenting, challenging and returning, and guiding his combo to do the same. But while he liked to hit what other people called "the wrong note" on purpose, to me, he has hardly created any single minute in all seven CD's which is harsh. I am not a musician, and the terms "dissonance" or "atonal" have technical meanings I'm unsure of, but I have even heard late-career relases by John Coltrane, who I love, which are unpleasant and too weird for me. Thelonious isn't like that. There is always "music" under his fingers, and he always gets back to it quickly if he does stray. Don't be afraid of Monk if you are new to jazz. Buy one of his efforts after reading several reviews and take a chance. I don't think you'll be sorry.

Enhanced by the test of time!
Recorded in October 1964 by what was Monk's regular quartet at the time, this has definately stood the test of time, is enhanced by the remastering and has the bonus of three extra tracks ( of which more later).Monk's idiosyncratic piano playing is at the fore in each of the selections, but Charlie Rouse on Tenor Sax does his best to match him, laying down squirting fluid blocks of notes as a counterpoint to the blocks of bent piano notes.Larry Gales on Bass and Ben Riley on drums add to the mix, unerringly managing to pick up where Rouse or Monk are going to turn. The album is also full of humour, with quirky signatures cropping up throughout the released album and the bonus tracks; listening to "Childrens Song" there are snatches of several themes all skillfully woven together. It's difficult to choose favourites, but "Pannonica" (which is retake two) works for me. Even better in some ways is the Medley on track 10 is what this quartet was about. Monk takes a single chorus of "Just You" then (clearly without warning)takes off into "Lisa" with Rouse seemingly undisturbed by this development finding his way seamlessly into it, and that tune continues until one verse from the end when Monk takes it back into 'Just you". A breathtaking end to a great album that with this reissue has become a "must have".

Not quite as good as the previous couple albums, but still great.
Thelonious Monk's fourth album on Columbia, simply titled "Monk", is yet another album of astounding high quality. One thing about Monk-- he's famous as a songwriter who really didn't write a huge volume of material-- less than eighty compositions by Monk have been released over the span of his career. As such, albums in the '60s typically featured reinterpretations of old material and standards, which made the unnervingly high quality of his early Columbia sessions noteworthy. This album, the first by a group Monk would work with for the next four years (longtime tenor sax partner Charlie Rouse, bassist Larry Gales, and drummer Ben Riley) is no exception.

"Monk" is also noteworthy for featuring two compositions previoulsy unrecorded-- "Children's Song (That Old Man)" and "Teo". The former has a bouncy rhythm and a sing-song melody, with Rouse and Monk both drawing inspiration from the piece and digging in deep. The latter, named for producer Teo Macero, is an aggressive, almost boppish midtempo piece with a fantastic staggered melody line stated in unison by Rouse and Monk, but seems to not be particularly inspirational to the soloists. A third original ("Pannonica") is performed as well-- a lovely midtempo blues, Rouse played this one several times with Monk in digs in deeply (on both this and the alternate included).

Monk also selects four standards to work with as well, "Liza (All the Clouds'll Role Away)" is downright ecstatic and happy-- Riley is positively brilliant, overflowing with energy and pushes the piece to higher and higher heights and Monk's playing is remarkably agile and exciting. Likewise, piano feature "I Love You (Sweetheart of All My Dreams)" finds Monk in a rather inventive mood, performing in an oddly dischordant and lilting rhythmic pattern. The other two standards performed ("April in Paris" and "Just You, Just Me") are more familiar for Monk and are somewhat less inspired in their performance.

This reissue has been remastered with the same stunning sound that the rest of the recent Columbia remasters (the ones without the purplish/blue border on the CD artwork) feature-- clean and distinct, well balanced, and with all the instruments singing. The session is augmented by three bonus tracks-- alternate of "April in Paris" and "Pannonica" and a rather unique medley of standards "Just You, Just Me" and "Liza", both featured separately on the session. It sounds as if Monk felt inspired, because midway through 'Just You', he inserts the "Liza" melody. Rouse, showing just how psychic their interaction is, jumps in quickly. While the performance is exciting, it's really a shame Monk decided to split these up in the end and not develop this medley further, with a little work, this could have been fantastic.

I gave this one three stars, only because it's not quite as good as the previous three Columbia albums-- this rating is really comparative more than anything else, most artists would be lucky to put out an album this good. Recommended.