Recorded in New York City on October 15 (tracks 1-4), December 18 (tracks 5, 6, 9 & 10), 1952 and September 22, 1954 (tracks 7 & 8)
Recording engineer: Rudy van Gelder (tracks 7&8 ) & unknown (tracks 1-6, 9-10)
"Gerry Mapp" is the name listed on the original record, but in fact the name of the bass player on these sides is Gary Mapp.
Thelonious Monk - piano
Percy Heath - bass (track 7)
Art Blakey - drums (tracks 1-4, 7)
Gerry Mapp - bass (tracks 1-6, 9-10)
Max Roach - drums (tracks 5-6, 9 & 10)
an uncredited person plays a shaker (in son clave rhythm) on "Bye-Ya"

塞隆尼斯·斯菲爾·孟克 是一名美國爵士樂鋼琴家和作曲家。孟克擅長即興表演，同時也為爵士樂發展做出貢獻。孟克是史上作曲數排名第二的爵士樂作曲家，僅次於艾靈頓爵士。 他的作曲與即興表演充滿了所謂「不和諧的和聲」，和其非傳統的鋼琴手法搭配，極富衝擊感。

Gerald Joseph Mulligan, also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger.

Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane are universally recognized as musical demigods. The idea of Monk and Coltrane--the genius mentor and the budding genius--on the same bandstand or in the same recording studio is like Julius Erving and Michael Jordan soaring as teammates, or Jean Renoir and Francois Truffaut collaborating on a film. For an all-too-brief, magical time in 1957, Monk and Coltrane actually did work together every night as part of a quartet led by the uniquely brilliant pianist-composer Monk at New York's now-fabled Five Spot Cafe. And between April and July of that year they made the stunning music contained herein, their complete output in the recording studio.

</p>The planets seemed to align for Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917-1982) and John William Coltrane (1926-1967) when they joined forces in '57. Coltrane was poised to make a giant leap forward--and ready to learn from one of the masters, Monk. In a Down Beat interview Coltrane said: "Working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I learned from him in every way." Some of those answers involved the way in which Coltrane's harmonic acuity developed, expressed via early intimations of his torrential "sheets of sound." With Monk's chords guiding him to places he'd never before visited, Coltrane was now on the path to transcendence. When he is joined by Coleman Hawkins, jazz's father of the tenor saxophone, on a couple of numbers from the epochal septet album Monk's Music, one hears the tenor's past, present, and future (e.g., the master take of "Epistrophy"). And listen raptly to the respective approaches of Hawkins and Coltrane on the two versions of "Ruby, My Dear," one of three signature Monk ballads in this set (the others are "Monk's Mood" and the ever-evolving "Crepuscule with Nellie").

</p>There is such greatness on these two discs, so many wondrous performances (the rhythm team of bassist Wilbur Ware and drummers Art Blakey or Shadow Wilson is especially inspired), and so many fascinating stories about how these masterpieces came into being. Orrin Keepnews, who as producer of the original sessions was present at the creation of every note, has written a superb essay that sets the record straight, clears up long-standing rumors about what did (and did not) go down in the studio, and, above all, lets the listener in on how a genius mentor, a budding genius, and their gifted colleagues went about the business of conceiving a work of art.

<span class="h1"><strong>Monk and Coltrane Photos</strong></span> <table width="400" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4"> <tr align="center"> <td><img src="
" width="125" border="0"></td> <td> </td> <td><img src="
" width="125" border="0"></td> <td> </td> <td><img src="
" width="125" border="0"></td> <td> </td> <td><img src="
" width="125" border="0"></td> </tr> </table>

<span class="h1"><strong>More Monk & Coltrane</strong></span>
<span class="tiny"></span> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="4"> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="33%"> <img src="
" border="0">
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="
" border="0">
Monk's Dream</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="
" border="0">
The Essential Thelonious Monk</td></tr><tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="33%"> <img src="
" border="0">
Monk Alone</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="
" border="0">
A Love Supreme, John Coltrane</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="
" border="0">
Blue Train, John Coltrane</td> </tr> </table> </p>

Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane is a 1961 album by Thelonious Monk issued on Jazzland Records, a subsidiary of Riverside Records. It consists of material recorded four years earlier when Monk worked extensively with John Coltrane, issued after Coltrane had become a leader and jazz star in his own right.
The album was assembled by the label with material from three different sessions. The impetus for the album was the discovery of three usable studio tracks recorded by the Monk Quartet with Coltrane in July of 1957 at the beginning of the band's six-month residency at New York's legendary Five Spot club near Cooper Square.[4] To round out the release, producer Keepnews included two outtakes from the Monk's Music album recorded the previous month, and an additional outtake from Thelonious Himself recorded in April.[5] The latter selection, "Functional," is a solo piano piece by Monk.
It was reissued in 2000 on Fantasy Records as part of its series for back catalogue using the JVC 20-bit K2 coding system. Because of the historical significance of this album it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.

The seven-song Unique Thelonious Monk (1956) platter was the pianist's second during his remarkable five-year tenure on Riverside. His debut for the label was the aptly titled Plays Duke Ellington (1955) and once again, on this disc, Monk's song selection did not feature any original compositions. Rather, the well-chosen standards included exemplify and help further establish the pianist and bandleader within the context of familiar melodies at the head of a trio -- consisting of Oscar Pettiford (bass) and Art Blakey (drums). Regarding the personnel, while Pettiford had also accompanied Monk on the Ellington sides, Blakey replaces Kenny Clarke. The pairing of Monk and Blakey cannot be overstated. Immediately, evidence of their uncanny instrumental interaction is the rhythmic focal point of "Liza, All the Clouds'll Roll Away" as the two play musical cat-and-mouse. They cajole and wheedle atop Pettiford's undulating undercurrent as it sonically corals their skilled syncopation and otherwise inspired mile-a-minute interjections. This is starkly contrast to the haunting, lyrical piano solo on "Memories of You." Monk infuses the piece with such profound ingenuity and integrity that his re-evaluation and innovative arrangement are singularly and undeniably his own. Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose" reels with a frolicking and ever-so-slightly inebriated gate. It is likewise highlighted by Monk's dreamlike single-note runs up and down the keyboard and the stride piano-style chord progressions that preserves a fluidity within the tune. The advanced score maintains a guise of almost goofy abandon within Monk's highly logical and well-sculpted musical structure. The juxtaposition of "Darn That Dream" is another study in the vacillating moods of The Unique Thelonious Monk. The sophisticated performance is understated, yet remains loose and limber and perfectly in keeping with the album's leitmotif of exploring Monk's skills as an arranger and musician. As if he were testing his audience, the manic and atonal opening to "Tea for Two" -- briefly featuring Pettiford on bowed upright bass -- rollicks with a youthful visage, rather than being a simple reworking of this well-established classic. This LP concludes with one of Monk's most memorable pieces on the fun and freewheeling "Just You, Just Me." The trio struts and glides as Monk's intricate fingering simultaneously displays his physical dexterity as well as his ability to play so deftly in the moment. Both attributes would resurface ten-fold once Monk began to animate his own compositions on the genre-defining Brilliant Corners (1956). ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide

Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer.
Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire (including his classic works "'Round Midnight" and "Blue Monk"). He is often regarded as a founder of bebop, although his playing style evolved away from the form. His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are impossible to separate from Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations.

Recorded - May 21, 1963 in Tokyo, Japan
Thelonious Monk – piano
Charlie Rouse - tenor saxophone
Butch Warren – bass
Frankie Dunlop – drums

鋼琴手－賽隆尼斯?蒙克（Thelonious Monk）
小喇叭手－肯尼?杜漢﹝Kenny Dorham）
中高音薩克斯風手－薩希?喜哈（Sahib Shihab）
羅?唐納森（Lou Donaldson）
中低音薩克斯風手－「幸運」?湯姆森﹝Lucky Thompson）
鐵琴手－米爾特?傑克遜（Milt Jackson）
貝斯手－約翰?西蒙斯（John Simmons）
艾爾?馬克彭（Al McKibbon）
尼爾森?鮑伊德（Nelson Boyd）
鼓手－影子?威爾森（Shadow Wilson）
亞特?布雷基（Art Blakey）
馬克斯?羅契（Max Roach）
「鋼琴怪傑」蒙克是個被誤解最深的爵士樂大師，他那有點唐突、不太和諧、間歇性的彈法，以及他常戴著可笑的帽子、留著鬍子、奇怪的舞臺行徑，使得他從1940~1955年間，一直都難以被接受，甚至在1951年，還曾被警察誤解為服用違禁藥物，而遭吊銷表演執照數年，雖然可以錄唱片，但是沒有作秀的機會，也很難促銷，藍音符還特別封之為「包勃高僧」（High priest of bebop）以吸引人們的注意。事實上，蒙克應該也算是包勃樂風的創始者之一，他在四○年代所做的一些曲子和獨特的節奏，對包勃大師「暈眩」和保威爾的影響很大，而他對五○後期的現代爵士（Modern Jazz）之影響，更是無遠弗屆，連柯川和近代的史帝夫?雷西（Steve Lacy）都奉他為宗師。蒙克的作曲才華被評為與「公爵」?阿靈頓(Duke Ellington)和「果凍捲」?摩頓(Jelly Roll Morton)並列，他的許多曲子都成為爵士樂的名曲，不過他的曲子難度很高，而與蒙克一起演奏更難，邁爾斯?戴維斯曾說：「我就是不喜歡他在我背後所彈奏的……」，因為蒙克的彈法很特別，音符間常留有很大的空隙、有時異常寧靜、有時流暢無比、變奏特多、很難預期他的下一個音符會是什麼，如果一般鋼琴手是「曲線」，那蒙克就是「角」，而角的出現往往是轉折點，另一位爵士鋼琴大師比爾?伊文斯（Bill Evans）說：「蒙克完全清楚他自己在彈什麼，無庸置疑……」。直到1956年，Riverside 為他錄製的〝Brilliant Corners〞，以及隨後的〝Thelonious Himself〞、〝Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane〞、〝Monk's Music〞等作品推出後，蒙克的音樂才真正受到大眾的肯定，1964年他還被選為時代雜誌（Time Magazine）封面人物，總算陳冤大白。
此二張一套的專輯收錄了蒙克1947~1951年間，在藍音符的經典作品，還囊括了鐵琴手米爾特?傑克遜、鼓手亞特?布雷基及馬克斯?羅契等大師級樂手的參與，彌足珍貴，其Vol. 1 還是企鵝五星的極品，包含〝Round Midnight〞、〝Ruby My Dear〞、〝In Walked Bud〞、〝Well, You Needn't〞、〝I Mean You〞、〝Evidence〞、〝Off Minor〞、〝Epistrophy〞等爵士經典名曲。而此張Vol. 2 中的曲子也都是赫赫有名，像〝Four In One〞、〝Criss Cross〞、和〝Straight No Chaser〞都是典型的蒙克曲，總是簡潔有力，主旋律隱隱約約出現在他稀稀落落的音符中，彈法有點「崎嶇」，聽起來「有點怪又不會太怪」，不過經由米爾特清亮的鐵琴聲之潤飾後，可接受性更高了，米爾特在〝Criss Cross〞和〝Straight No Chaser〞中，也都有非常精彩的獨奏；〝Ask Me Know〞則是蒙克的曲子中，少數比較唯美浪漫的作品，以三重奏的方式演奏，可以聽到蒙克溫柔的另一面；〝Willow Weep For Me〞則是以米爾特的鐵琴為主奏，旋律極為優美的曲子，蒙克只擔任伴奏；〝Skippy〞、〝Hornin' In〞、和〝Sixteen〞則是事隔一年後的錄音，陣容完全不同，蒙克的獨奏都比前次錄音長，彈得也比較華麗，而管樂器的份量也加重了，小喇叭手杜漢和薩克斯風手湯姆森及唐納森都有很紮實的獨奏，此組合搭配下的蒙克比較容易被接受。

The legendary jazz pianist’s 1968 concert at Palo Alto High School, recorded by a janitor and shelved for decades, captures some of the fiercest, most spirited versions of his quartet’s core repertoire.

简介:
In celebration of Blue Note Records' 75th Anniversary, Astell&Kern has partnered with the legendary record label to offer an exclusive, limited edition box set. Available now for a limited time, the Astell&Kern Blue Note 75th Anniversary Box Set: Limited Edition features 75 of Blue Note's most essential albums, newly remastered from analog to the hi-res MQS digital format (24bit/192kHz). Five Blue Note albums make their exclusive hi-res audio debuts with this release: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' Mosaic, Tina Brooks' True Blue, Don Cherry'sComplete Communion, Andrew Hill's Point Of Departure, and Bobby Hutcherson's Components.The lavish collection includes the Blue Note branded Astell&Kern AK240 high-resolution portable audio player, a special book filled with original album art (front and back cover) for the 75 titles, as well as Richard Havers' new book, Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression.
The gorgeous collection spans Blue Note's storied history, from Thelonious Monk's first sessions in 1947 to GRAMMY® Award-winning jazz phenomenon Gregory Porter's Liquid Spirit. Each album, in high resolution on a microSD card, in an acrylic glass case with original album artwork stacked in a beautiful, decorative tower that can be placed next to your home system for an elegant, luxurious display. The 75 albums are pre-loaded on the included Astell&Kern AK240 high-resolution audio player, revealing every detail you might not have heard anywhere else, no matter how many times you've listened to these albums before.
Tonight in Los Angeles, Astell&Kern will unveil and demonstrate the Astell&Kern Blue Note 75th Anniversary Box Set: Limited Edition at a private event at Capitol Studios. Invited music industry executives and journalists will experience the special collection's superior audio quality, as well as the aesthetic beauty of the Blue Note-branded tower.
Henry Park, CEO of iriver, the parent company of Astell&Kern said, "The Blue Note Records catalog of Jazz is the perfect showcase for high resolution audio. The Astell&Kern line of portable high-resolution audio players were designed to showcase the range of instruments in these musical genres. Now, everyone can listen to these new and classic albums the way they were meant to be heard, how the artist and engineer intended them to be heard."
Don Was, president of Blue Note Records, said, "Our good friends at Astell&Kern — a company that respects authenticity, fidelity and artistry — are a perfect complement to the Blue Note aesthetic. With the advent of their new MQS Hi Fi Audio Players, aficionados can now experience these classic recordings just like the musicians originally did. We are proud to make our most treasured recordings available in this manner."
About Astell&Kern
Launched in October 2012, Astell&Kern is the high-end audiophile brand by iriver. The current Astell&Kern line includes the award-winning AK100, AK120, the second generation AK100 II, AK120 II and the flagship AK240 high-resolution portable audio players, capable of playing 24-bit/192 kHz Mastering Quality Sound (MQS) files including DSD. Astell&Kern's lineup has recently expanded to include accessories such as the AKR01 and AKR02 In-Ear Monitors, Astell&Kern portable player docking stations and line of home audio products.

不管用任何標準來看，瑟隆尼斯˙孟克都是個怪人，他極端沈默，就算偶爾說話，旁邊的人也常聽不太懂他說什麼，有點像是個先知、精神病患、自閉症者的綜合體，卻是影響最大的爵士巨人之一，11歲開始學鋼琴，1940年代在紐約著名的明頓玩具屋(Minton’s Playhouse)俱樂部擔任駐場樂師，當時數位具有革新精神的青年爵士樂手包括迪吉˙葛拉斯彼、查理˙帕克等人，會在打烊後一起到明頓來個集體即興，漸漸找出了自己的新聲音，現代爵士樂的源頭:咆勃(Bebop)就此誕生，其間孟克居功厥偉，知名的爵士樂鼓手雅特布萊奇甚至認為孟克才是真正第一位發展出咆勃架構的先知。
孟克的鋼琴演奏非常特別，他會在旋律之間留下大量的停頓和空白，如果說其他一些樂手的留白是為了要讓聽眾有呼吸的餘地來調節聆聽情緒，孟克的留白則根本就是弄個大洞讓你掉下去，聽他的音樂，有時像約翰寇川所形容的，彷彿在黑暗中走進電梯，卻踩了個空。這樣的演奏，一方面給合作樂手更寬廣自由的揮灑空間，一方面也使得欣賞他的演奏成為無可比擬的獨特經驗。
他也是現代爵士樂史上最重要的作曲家之一，經典作品有〈Round Midnight〉、〈Well You Needn’t〉、〈Blue Monk〉等等，在他完成這些創作的同時，許多批評家完全不認同，這一點只能說他徹底超越了時代的步調，孟克很多作品根本就是新理論的實驗成果，有時從一個音或一個和弦開始推演，為了嘗試這樣或那樣的連接推進會有什麼特殊的效果而發展成一首曲子，對當時沒有聽過類似東西的人來說，孟克的作品充滿了怪異不協調的聲音，到50年代中期以後，評論界和聽眾才開始欣賞他的創作，時至今日，他的音樂獲得無數樂手的崇拜與仿效，成為爵士樂最重要的資產。他顛峰時期的作品大多留存在 blueNote、Prestiage、Riverside這幾家唱片公司的錄音之中。
Thelonious Monk生前所受到的注目大抵來自他有異於常人的脾氣，他的音樂天分卻是時至今日才廣受重視。他的鋼琴技巧完全解構了往日爵士樂的原則，急速的彈奏、使用錯誤的音符以及Out Of Context的演奏方式不但嚇跑了同期不少保守份子，就連Miles Davis都公開表示Monk為「不懂得彈鋼琴」的鋼琴手。他的作品與他的演奏為一體兩面，如果伴奏樂手能夠配合當中的節奏特色，則一首富有含蓄美感的旋律組合便呈現眼前，"Round Midnight"及"Brilliant Corners"實為最佳例子。Monk於11歲開始習藝，Bud Powell成為他的頭號冒仿對象，1947年至1951年效力於Blue Note公司之後，因為吸毒被捕。1952年至1957年間，Monk於Prestige公司先後與Miles Davis、Sonny Rollins等人合作，其品輾轉流傳至五零年代末期才被樂評公認為一「出色的創作人」。此項殊榮由於專輯如"Brilliant Corners"、"Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane"、"Thelonious Himself"的出現而再度強化。七零年代中期至他逝世的1982年間，Monk的活動大為減少，相對地更多的爵士樂迷開始鑽研並演奏他的作品，更有爵士學家提出Monk與Charles Mingus及Ellington實為有史以來最好的作曲家。
Thelonious Monk - piano
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone(on "Monk's Mood")
Wilbur Ware - bass(on "Monk's Mood")

Arthur Blakey was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was briefly 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 1940s in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine.

Recorded：October 21 and 22, 1959 at Fugazi Hall, San Francisco, CA
Thelonious Monk – piano