'Round Midnight: The Complete Blue Note Singles (1947-1952)

Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano).
Liner Note Author: Kirk Silsbee.
Recording information: Apex Studios, New York, NY (05/30/1952); WOR STudios, New York, NY (05/30/1952); Apex Studios, New York, NY (07/02/1948); WOR STudios, New York, NY (07/02/1948); Apex Studios, New York, NY (07/23/1951); WOR STudios, New York, NY (07/23/1951); Apex Studios, New York, NY (10/15/1947); WOR STudios, New York, NY (10/15/1947); Apex Studios, New York, NY (10/24/1947); WOR STudios, New York, NY (10/24/1947); Apex Studios, New York, NY (11/21/1947); WOR STudios, New York, NY (11/21/1947).
Photographers: Francis Wolff; William Gottlieb.
The two-disc Thelonious Monk anthology, 2014's 'Round Midnight: The Complete Blue Note Singles (1947-1952)), compiles all of the influential jazz pianist's original 78 rpm singles released on the storied Blue Note label. These are Monk's first recordings under his own name, leading a group (not his debut recordings as a sideman with Coleman Hawkins). All of these recordings were later collected on various albums including Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1., and other anthologies. Here, they are presented in chronological order and with alternate takes. Recorded in six separate sessions beginning in October of 1947 and ending in May of 1952, these sides showcase many of the songs Monk composed, and which would quickly become part of the jazz canon. Included are "Evidence," "Mysterioso," "Well, You Needn't," and others. While the focal point of these albums is Monk's innovative use of dissonance and unexpected, angular melodicism, the recordings also benefit from a veritable who's-who of modern jazz of the period. Backing Monk here, variously, are such luminaries as drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, trumpeters Kenny Dorham and Idrees Sulieman, saxophonists Lou Donaldson and Lucky Thompson, and many more. While these recordings are widely available, it's both historically enlightening and aesthetically pleasing to have them collected so thoughtfully here. ~ Matt Collar