By the mid-’60s, European touring had become a routine familiar to many of jazz’s most well-known practitioners. Thelonious Monk was already over two decades into his career when he began to visit Europe in earnest. Europeans were excited to experience Monk and his storied personality, often focusing as much on his appearance and idiosyncratic behavior ahead of the music.
The release of Bremen 1965 finds the legend on his second tour to feature stops in Germany with his seasoned quartet featuring his longtime saxophone foil, Charlie Rouse, along with bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley. Bremen, Germany was the second stop on the quartet’s world tour, which would include much of Europe, Australia, and Japan. The recording was made on…
Tag Archive: Thelonious Monk
Released in 1957, Thelonious Himself is a solo album by Thelonious Monk. The only exception to this is the final track “Monk’s Mood”, where he is joined by John Coltrane and Wilbur Ware. The album was Monk’s fourth on Riverside and was given a coveted 5 stars by DownBeat magazine. This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and features remastered audio from the original master tapes.
On each of his first three recordings for Riverside, Thelonious Monk included a solo piano presentation, and for many listeners, these were the highlights of each recital. And so it was decided that Monk’s fourth Riverside recording, Thelonious Himself, would be composed entirely of solo interpretations; well, almost.