Thelonious Monk, solo piano – Thelonious Himself – Keepnews Collection RCD 30510 ***** [Distr. by Concord Music]:
These two are the only physical CDs in the sixth installment of the Keepnews Collection reissue series from Concord, which same out last month. The other three albums – Abbey Lincoln, Wynton Kelly, and Mark Murphy – are being made available as digital downloads only.
The classical Bill Evans live album hails from 1961, and includes alternate-take version of four of the original six tracks which point up the special contributions of the great bassist Scott LaFaro, who died shortly after in an auto accident. The note booklet reproduces the original LP liner notes – but in the 5” format they are nearly unreadable. The 24-bit remastering makes this reissue sound identical on my system to the earlier JVC xrcd reissue of the album which cost more than twice the price!
TrackList:
1. Gloria’s Step [take 2]
2. My Man’s Gone Now
3. Solar
4. Alice In Wonderland [take 2]
5. All Of You [take 2]
6. Jade Visions [take 2]
7. Gloria’s Step [take 3]
8. Alice In Wonderland [take 1]
9. All Of You [take 3]
10. Jade Visions [take 1]
Thelonious Himself is one of only two or three strictly solo piano Monk albums, mono from 1957. Five of the eight original tracks are standard pop song, and there are three standout Monk originals: ‘Round Midnight, Functional, and Monk’s Mood. There are additionally five bonus track alternate takes at the end of the disc – in case you prefer to skip them. The two takes of Monk’s Mood feature his trio, with John Coltrane, who was just starting with Monk at this time. This mid-priced reissue sounded about identical with the 2004 Riverside reissue done at JVC with 20-bit K2 processing, except that disc also includes a fascinating (to hear once) 22 minute bonus track which preserves the gestation of the ‘Round Midnight track – with many stops and starts and comments by Monk and Keepnews.
TrackList:
1. April In Paris
2. I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You (take 7)
3. Functional
4. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You
5. I Should Care (take 3)
6. ‘Round Midnight
7. All Alone
8. Monk’s Mood (false start)
9. Monk’s Mood
10. I Don’t Stand A Ghost of a Chance With You (take 5)
11. Functional (take 1)
12. I Should Care (Take 1)
13. I Should Care (take 2)
— John Henry
