Thelonious Monk - The Early Albums 1951-54 (2025)

Thelonious Monk was one of the most innovative and influential of the pioneering bebop pianists and composers with a uniquely distinctive and idiosyncratic style characterised by an angular, percussive and occasionally dissonant approach. He came to the fore in the 1940s, so when the era of the vinyl long-playing album dawned in the 1950s, he was ideally placed to take advantage of it. This 38-track 2-CD collection comprises the titles from his first 10” LPs on Blue Note and Prestige. The first two on Blue Note, “, “Genius Of Modern Music Vols. 1 & 2”, combine titles from sessions in the late ‘40s which were released as singles with some from 1951 sessions, while the Prestige titles from the albums “Thelonious”, “Thelonious Monk Quintet Blows for LP”, “Thelonious Monk Quintet” and “Thelonious Monk Plays”, were conceived as album projects, featuring extended performances, for which dedicate sessions were done from 1952 through to 1954. We also include bonus titles from a solo session in Paris in 1954. It features performances in the various Trio, Quartet, Quintet and Sextet line-ups with noted musicians of the day, including Gene Ramey, Milt Jackson, Sonny Rollins, Gary Mapp, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Percy Heath, Al McKibbon, Ray Copeland, Frank Foster, Curley Russell and more. It’s a set which captures one of the true greats of the genre at a key period of his career.

Tracklist:
1-1 Thelonious Monk Quintet - 'Round About Midnight [3:12]
1-2 Thelonious Monk - Off Minor [3:01]
1-3 Thelonious Monk - Ruby My Dear [3:08]
1-4 Thelonious Monk Quartet - I Mean You [2:46]
1-5 Thelonious Monk Sextet - Thelonious [2:59]
1-6 Thelonious Monk Quartet - Epistrophy [3:07]
1-7 Thelonious Monk - Well You Needn't [2:59]
1-8 Thelonious Monk Quartet - Misterioso [3:21]
1-9 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Four In One [3:29]
1-10 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Who Knows [2:41]
1-11 Thelonious Monk - Nice Work If You Can Get It [3:03]
1-12 Thelonious Monk Quintet - In Walked Bud [2:56]
1-13 Thelonious Monk Sextet - Humph [2:52]
1-14 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Straight No Chaser [2:58]
1-15 Thelonious Monk Sextet - Suburban Eyes [3:01]
1-16 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Ask Me Now [3:15]
1-17 Thelonious Monk - Little Rootie Tootie [3:05]
1-18 Thelonious Monk - Sweet And Lovely [3:35]
1-19 Thelonious Monk - Bye-Ya [2:46]
1-20 Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream [3:06]
1-21 Thelonious Monk - Trinkle Tinkle [2:48]
1-22 Thelonious Monk - These Foolish Things [2:46]
1-23 Thelonious Monk - Bemsha Swing [3:10]
1-24 Thelonious Monk - Reflections [2:45]
2-25 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Friday The 13th [10:34]
2-26 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Let's Call This [5:08]
2-27 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Think Of One [5:40]
2-28 Thelonious Monk Quintet - We See [5:15]
2-29 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes [4:30]
2-30 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Locomotive [6:22]
2-31 Thelonious Monk Quintet - Hackensack [5:11]
2-32 Thelonious Monk - Work [5:15]
2-33 Thelonious Monk - Nutty [5:16]
2-34 Thelonious Monk - Blue Monk [7:38]
2-35 Thelonious Monk - Just A Gigolo [3:00]
2-36 Thelonious Monk - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes [3:24]
2-37 Thelonious Monk - Eronel [2:33]
2-38 Thelonious Monk - Off Minor (Version 2) [2:30]