''Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins'' is a compilation album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist and composer

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

and saxophonist

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

released in 1956 by Prestige Records. The tracks on it were recorded in three sessions between 1953 and 1954. While this is its original title, and its most consistent title in its digital re-releases, it was also released on Prestige as ''Work!'' (1959, PRLP 7169) and ''The Genius Of Thelonious Monk'' (1967, PR 7656), with alternative covers.

Background

The album is culled from the results of three recording sessions over a span of close to twelve months featuring different personnel. Although Rollins is credited as a co-leader on the album cover, he appears on only three of the album's five tracks. It was the final Monk release on Prestige before he moved to a contract with

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riverside ...

. The track "Friday the 13th" was recorded in November 1953 with a quintet of Monk, Rollins,

Julius Watkins Julius Watkins (October 10, 1921 – April 4, 1977) was an American jazz musician who played French horn. Described by AllMusic as "virtually the father of the jazz French horn", Watkins won the ''Down Beat'' critics poll in 1960 and 1961 for Mi ...

Percy Heath Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout ...

, and Willie Jones; the September 1954 recordings are of a trio with Monk, Heath, and

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

; and the October 1954 session Monk and Rollins again with bassist

Tommy Potter Charles Thomas Potter (September 21, 1918 – March 1, 1988) was an American jazz double bass player, best known for having been a member of Charlie Parker's "classic quintet", with Miles Davis, between 1947 and 1950. Born in Philadelphia, Penn ...

and drummer Art Taylor.Thelonious Monk discography accessed 23 April 2012
/ref> Of the three Monk originals, "Friday the 13th" was written in the studio during the recording session, released as a ten-minute jam to fill out the album's running time. Monk would return to "Nutty" again and again through his career, but this was his only recording of the composition "Work." The recordings on this 12" LP originally appeared in 1954 on three 10" LPs: ''

Thelonious Monk Quintet Blows for LP ''Thelonious Monk Quintet Blows for LP (featuring Sonny Rollins)'' is a 10" LP by American jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, performed by Monk's Quintet. It was originally released in 1954 as the second of five 10-inch LP albums by Monk fo ...

'' (Prestige PRLP 166),''

Thelonious Monk Plays ''Thelonious Monk Plays (with Percy Heath and Art Blakey)'' is a 10" LP by American jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, performed by the Thelonious Monk Trio. It was originally released in 1954 as the fourth of five 10" albums by Monk for Pr ...

'' (Prestige PRLP 189) and ''

Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk ''Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk uartet' is a 10" LP by American jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, performed by a quartet featuring Rollins and Monk. It was originally released in 1954 as the fifth of five 10" LPs featuring Monk for Pr ...

'' (Prestige PRLP 190). Chris Sheridan, in his book ''Brilliant Corners: A Bio-discography of Thelonious Monk'', dates the first 12-inch vinyl release of ''Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins'' (Prestige PRLP 7075) to 1956. Its release was immediately preceded in the Prestige 12-inch catalog of Monk's work by ''

Thelonious Monk Trio ''Thelonious Monk Trio'' is an album by American jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. The album features his earliest recordings for Prestige Records, performing as a soloist with a rhythm section of bassist Gary Mapp (originally credited a ...

'' (Prestige PRLP 7027), and ''Thelonious Monk'', aka ''Monk'' (PRLP 7053).Sheridan, Chris, ''Brilliant Corners: A Bio-discography of Thelonious Monk'', p 295, Westport and London: Greenwood Press, 2001

Track listing

''All compositions by Thelonious Monk, except where indicated.'' Side one # "

The Way You Look Tonight "The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film ''Swing Time'' that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. Fields remarked, ...

" (

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

) – 5:13 # "

I Want to Be Happy "I Want to Be Happy" is a song with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar written for the 1925 musical '' No, No, Nanette''. Musical The song is used several times throughout the musical as a running theme representing the attempts ...

" (

Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for T ...

Vincent Youmans Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer. A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, Ot ...

) – 7:43 # "Work" – 5:18 Side two # "Nutty" – 5:16 # "Friday the 13th" – 10:32

Personnel

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

on "The Way You Look Tonight", "I Want to Be Happy" and "Friday the 13th" *

–

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

on "Friday the 13th" *

– bass on "Work," "Nutty" and "Friday the 13th" *

– bass on "The Way You Look Tonight" and "I Want to Be Happy" * Art Taylor –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

on "The Way You Look Tonight" and "I Want to Be Happy" *

– drums on "Work" and "Nutty" * Willie Jones – drums on "Friday the 13th"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thelonious Monk And Sonny Rollins 1956 albums Thelonious Monk albums Prestige Records albums Sonny Rollins albums Albums produced by Bob Weinstock Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio