Search - Thelonious Monk :: Monk in Tokyo

Good late Monk

William C. Altreuter | Buffalo, NY USA | 02/27/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is Monk's Columbia period, with Charlie Rouse, Butch Warren and (Buffalo's own) Frankie Dunlop on drums. There is plenty of Monk that you need before you need this, but it is a solid set, before a receptive audience, with very high quality sound."

This is IT.

Tom Z | Buffalo, NY | 05/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my favorite monk albums. The bass sounds amazing on this disc. Here's the real reason I am writing this review. Try getting this disc through amazon or one of the other sellers and you will be waiting more than 3 months. Thats when I gave up. I went to amazon.UK and the disc was at my door 3 days later (and I live in the US). I am not sure what the availablity for this disc is. Get it cause this is IT."

SANKEI HALL SWING, NO BLUE MONK HERE!

Kay's Husband | Virginia, U.S.A. | 10/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"


During October, 1962 through November, 1964, I lived in Japan on the Kanto Plain spending much time in either Yokohama or Tokyo. I remember well that year of 1963, the year that many jazz artists had concerts in Japan, with most starting out at Sankei Hall, Tokyo. Art Blakey came in January, 1963, with George Shearing in March '63, Lionel Hampton in April '63, Louis Armstrong April '63, Monk in May '63, Count Basie in May '63, Cannonball Adderley July '63, Sonny Rollins September '63, and Max Roach in October '63. With the exception of Louis Armstrong in this group of people no one else had ever performed in Japan. Monk would return to Japan in the years May 1966, October 1970, and one final performance tour in October, 1971.



This album was recorded on Tuesday, May 21, 1963, however the first night of Monk's performance was Monday, May 13. The musical performances by Monk's quartet continued until Wednesday, May 22nd. As a listener can tell, Monk was at his very best with three others who had performed together for some time, with his saxophonist, Charlie Rouse, having spent more time with Monk than anyone else.



Monk had recently signed a contract with Columbia in 1962, and in the year 1963 was doing more travelling and live performances than at any other time, and in July, 1963, shortly after Japan, was performing at Newport '63. In the fall of 1963 Monk was to be the cover story of TIME magazine, but due to President Kennedy's death did not appear until February, 1964. This was the peak of happiness for Monk in his career.





Monk is one of my favorite performers, but it is very difficult to choose exactly which disc is my favorite. Though some reviewers like to say that Monk played as if his fingers were in the cracks of the keys, or that he played stiff fingered, and I've noticed that some pieces do have a ragged end as when landing an airplane in a crash landing, I can think of no better pianist I'd chose to listen to. Having acquired a full shelf of his CDs, the more I listen to Monk, the more I appreciate this legendary artist and composer.



This is an excellent disc and one anyone interested in Thelonious Monk will want. For me the two standouts in this 11 piece 2-disc set are Jackie-ing on disc one, and Hackensack on disc two.



Listen and enjoy.



Semper Fi."