Thelonious Monk - The Complete Albums Collection 1954-57 (2015)

FIVE DISC COLLECTION FEATURING THE MOST IMPORTANT RECORDINGS OF MONKS CAREER! Thelonious Sphere Monk was one of the finest pianists and composers in American jazz history. His unique improvisational style made heavy use of dissonances and angular melodic twists, and were consistent with Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations. Monk is the second-most recorded jazz composer of all time, second only to Duke Ellington, and is one of only five jazz musicians to feature on the front cover of Time magazine. In 1944 Monk made his first studio recordings with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet. Hawkins was one of the earliest established jazz musicians to promote Monk, and Monk later returned the favour by inviting Hawkins to join him on the 1957 session with John Coltrane. Monk made his first recordings as leader for Blue Note in 1947 (later anthologised on Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1) which showcased his talents as a composer of original melodies for improvisation. In August 1951, New York City police searched a parked car occupied by Monk and friend Bud Powell. Monk refused to testify against his friend regarding narcotics found in the vehicle, so the police confiscated his New York City Cabaret Card. Without it, he was unable to play in any New York venue where liquor was served, and this severely restricted his ability to perform for several crucial years. Monk spent most of the early and mid-1950s composing, recording, and performing at theatres and out-of-town gigs. After his cycle of intermittent recording sessions for Blue Note during 19471952, he was under contract to Prestige Records for the following two years. With Prestige he cut several highly significant, but at the time under-recognized, albums, including collaborations with saxophonist Sonny Rollins and drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach. In 1954, Monk participated in a Christmas Eve session which produced most of the albums Bags' Groove and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants. Davis found Monk's idiosyncratic accompaniment style difficult to improvise over and asked him to lay out (not accompany), which almost brought them to blows. However, in Miles Davis' autobiography Miles, Davis claims that the anger and tension between Monk and himself never took place and that the claims of blows being exchanged were rumours and a misunderstanding.