''Thelonious Monk Trio'' is an album by American

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 ...

. The album features his earliest recordings for

Prestige Records Prestige Records is a jazz record company and label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock in New York City which issued recordings in the mainstream, bop, and cool jazz idioms. The company recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz music ...

, performing as a soloist with a

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

of bassist Gary Mapp (originally credited as "Gerry Mapp"), either

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 ...

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

on drums, and one track with

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 ...

replacing Mapp. It also contains the earliest recorded versions of the

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list ...

"Blue Monk" and "Bemsha Swing".

Secondary sources In scholarship, a secondary sourcePrimary, secondary and tertiary sources
. ...

have placed the album's release year to either 1954 or 1956. It has been re-released numerous times, occasionally under the title ''Monk's Moods'' and with different track orders. Its track listing expands on the 10" LP issue ''

Thelonious Thelonious is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Fred Thelonious Baker (born 1960) English guitarist * Thelonious Bernard (born 1964) French actor * Thelonious Martin (born 1992) or King Thelonious, American Hip Hop record prod ...

'' (1953), augmented with two tracks from his fourth 10" LP, '' Thelonious Monk Plays (with Percy Heath and Art Blakey)'', released in 1954.

Release history

According to

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

writer Alex Robertson, ''Thelonious Monk Trio'' was originally released in 1954 as Monk's first proper studio album. It follows the release of his two '' Genius of Modern Music'' compilations—the first volume in 1951 and the second volume in 1952. The record has since been re-released numerous times on different formats, usually with its original title, although occasionally as ''Monk's Moods''. (''Monk's Moods'' was first released in 1960 by Prestige.) According to

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, the 10-track ''Thelonious Monk Trio'' "has been reissued in more iterations and titles than I can catalogue". On some of its re-releases, Robertson notes ''Thelonious Monk Trio'' had a track listing order different from the original. (See alternative track listing below). The album also features the first recorded performances of "Blue Monk" and "Bemsha Swing". According to music journalist Charles Waring, ''Thelonious Monk Trio'' was first released in 1954 and is a 12-inch vinyl revamping of the 1953 10-inch LP ''

''. Chris May from ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' also placed the release year to 1954. Chris Sheridan, in his book ''Brilliant Corners: A Bio-discography of Thelonious Monk'', dates the album's first 12-inch vinyl release, ''Thelonious Monk Trio'' (Prestige LP 7027), to 1956 and lists it as the first Monk LP in Prestige's 7000 series of 12-inch records, followed that same year by ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'' and ''

Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins ''Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins'' is a compilation album by jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk and saxophonist Sonny Rollins released in 1956 by Prestige Records. The tracks on it were recorded in three sessions between 1953 and 1954. ...

''.

Critical reception

''Thelonious Monk Trio'' received critical acclaim during the 2000s. Reviewing in ''

All Music Guide to Jazz ''All Music Guide to Jazz'' is a non-fiction book that is an encyclopedic referencing of jazz music compiled under the direction of All Media Guide. The first edition, ''All Music Guide to Jazz: the Best CDs, Albums & Tapes'', appeared in 1994 and ...

'' (2002),

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

said the album features "brilliant performances" in spite of Monk "suffering from lack of work and a complete lack of recognition from the public" at the time of the recordings. Fellow

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

contributor Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. called its music "intimate, intense, and inspired ... 35 minutes of professional musicians practicing their craft", and wrote that, although they were "pieced together from three different sessions," the recordings' "small settings ... allow the necessary space for Monk's explorations, which conjure up images of a mathematician working out geometric patterns on the keyboard."

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

's Charles de Ledesma remarked that "the various personnel make little difference to the overall effect – Monk throughout offers a sumptuous flow of melody, punctuation, nuance and charm." Reviewing the album's 2007

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Theloni ...

remaster, Chris May from ''

'' hailed ''Thelonious Monk Trio'' as "immortal, stratospheric music" and "amongst the most eternal" of Monk's releases. "At this period like no other", May said, "Monk's rhythmic attack packed the power of an express train."

's Alex Robertson said that "even when Monk gets nutty, as on the brutally virtuosic 'Trinkle, Tinkle,' the album's appeal lies not in his 'sabotage' of popular music but his ability to turn it into something invigoratingly weird, two approaches often conflated when looking back on the work of an inventive musician." In ''

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...

'', Christgau said the record offers "the not so common chance to hear Monk as a solely featured soloist with a rhythm section", with drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach performing like "co-stars".

Track listing

All compositions by

, except where noted. Side 1 #

"Little Rootie Tootie" - 3:06 #

Sweet and Lovely "Sweet and Lovely" is an American popular song of 1931, composed by Gus Arnheim, Charles N. Daniels, and Harry Tobias. Recordings of the song which charted in 1931 are: * Gus Arnheim & His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra with a vocal refrain by Dona ...

" (

Gus Arnheim Gus Arnheim (September 4, 1897 – January 19, 1955) was an American pianist and an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. He ...

Jules LeMare Charles N. Daniels (April 12, 1878 – January 23, 1943), was a composer, occasional lyricist, and music publishing executive. He employed many pseudonyms, including Neil Moret, Jules Lemare, L'Albert, Paul Bertrand, Julian Strauss, and Si ...

Harry Tobias Harry Tobias (September 11, 1895 – December 15, 1994) was an American lyricist. Like his younger brother Charles, he is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Born in New York City, United States, but raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, ...

) - 3:33 #

"Bye-Ya" - 2:46 #

"Monk's Dream" - 3:07 #

"Trinkle, Tinkle" - 2:49 #

These Foolish Things "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" is a standard with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, writing under the pseudonym Holt Marvell, and music by Jack Strachey, both Englishmen. Harry Link, an American, sometimes appears as a co-writer; his input ...

" (

Harry Link Harry Link (born John Harry Linkey, January 25, 1896, Philadelphia – July 5, 1956, New York City) was an American vaudeville actor and songwriter. He wrote and co-wrote several well-known jazz standards. Career Link studied at the Wharton Sc ...

Holt Marvell Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE (10 June 1901 – 27 October 1969), sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive. Life and work Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, and desc ...

, Jack Strachey) - 2:46 Side 2 #

Blue Monk This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. 0-9 52nd Street Theme A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" ...

" - 7:39 #

" Just a Gigolo" ( Julius Brammer,

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 Tw ...

Leonello Casucci Leonello Casucci (1885–1975) was an Italian composer. Casucci was born in Pistoia, Tuscany in 1885 and he's best known for having composed the music of the famous 1929 hit song Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo in 1928, with lyrics in German by Jul ...

) - 3:00 #

Bemsha Swing This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. 0-9 52nd Street Theme A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" ...

" (

Denzil Best Denzil DaCosta Best (April 27, 1917 – May 24, 1965) was an American jazz percussionist and composer born in New York City. He was a prominent bebop drummer in the 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Best was born in New York City, into a musi ...

) - 3:10 #

"Reflections" - 2:48 Notes *Tracks 1-4 recorded on October 15, 1952, and originally released as Side A of the 10" LP ''

'' (Prestige PrLP 142)"sessionography-1952-1954"
www.monkbook.com. Accessed Oct 17, 2019 *Tracks 5-6 and 9-10 recorded on December 18, 1952, and originally released as Side B of the 10" LP ''Thelonious'' (Prestige PrLP 142) *Tracks 7 & 8 recorded September 22, 1954 and originally released as Side B of the 10" LP '' Thelonious Monk Plays (with Percy Heath and Art Blakey)'' (Prestige PrLP 189)

Alternate sequence

While the song order above has become standard, and is closer to the sequence of the 10" Prestige album ''

'', the 12" album was sequenced as follows in all of its 1950's and 1960's releases, including the original PRLP 7027, as well as its retitlings ''Monk's Moods'' (PRLP 7159, 1960) and ''The High Priest'' (PR 7508, 1968). Beginning in the 1970's, some releases switched sides, and over time the sequence beginning with "Little Rootie Tootie" became more common. "www.allmusic.com"
Accessed Oct 19, 2019 Side 1 #

" - 7:39 #

" Just a Gigolo" ( Julius Brammer,

) - 3:00 #

" (

) - 3:10 #

"Reflections" - 2:48 Side 2 #

"Little Rootie Tootie" - 3:06 #

" (

) - 3:33 #

"Bye-Ya" - 2:46 #

"Monk's Dream" - 3:07 #

"Trinkle, Tinkle" - 2:49 #

" (

, Jack Strachey) - 2:46

Personnel

(Track listings here refer to the version beginning with "Little Rootie Tootie.") *

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 ...

*Gary Mapp - bass (tracks 1-6, 9-10) *

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 ...

(tracks 1-4, 7) *

- drums (tracks 5-6, 9 & 10) *

- bass (track 7) *Track 8 is a solo piano performance by Monk. *an uncredited person plays a shaker (in son clave rhythm) on "Bye-Ya"

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Thelonious Monk albums 1954 albums Prestige Records albums