- This Milestone 2 LP set has outstanding sound on all four sides
- We know of no better way to hear these legendary mono recordings – these are by far the best sounding pressings of both these albums we’ve yet to play
- The 1979 transfers of tape to disc by David Turner are superb in all respects – this is remastering done right
- 4 1/2 stars: “When Thelonious Monk first signed with Riverside Records in 1955, producer Orrin Keepnews thought that it would be a good idea for the unrecognized giant to record an album of Duke Ellington compositions and follow it up with a set of standards so as to discount his eccentric and forbidding image. The results were quite satisfying, trio performances that made Monk’s playing seem more accessible to the regular jazz audience without watering down his style.”
Top Artists – Thelonious Monk
Sonny Rollins – Vol. 2 – Our Shootout Winner from 2011
- Side two of this stereo pressing is at least Super Hot – it’s huge, rich and tubey
- Side one is Super Hot, musical, lively, clear and real sounding
- Another classic late ’50s RVG recording of some of the greatest Jazz Giants who ever lived
- “…a timeless session and a milestone in jazz history that gathered together some of the founding fathers of the post-bop era.”
Even though this session was supposedly recorded in one day on April 14, 1957 we heard an anomaly that took us somewhat by surprise. The first and third track on side two sound amazing, better than anything on side one. However, the second track, You Stepped Out Of A Dream, has sound that is clearly a step down from anything else on the album. It’s smaller and more congested. Why that is we have no idea, but we felt it was worth pointing out.
Sonny’s horn on side two is especially big and rich, with huge amounts of Tubey Magic as befits an all-tube 1957 Blue Note recording. This is clearly the right sound for this music.
Note that side one is not quite as tubey but makes up for it with energy and clarity that we found conveys the music beautifully. (more…)
Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington on OJC
More of the Music of Thelonious Monk
Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of Thelonious Monk
This title badly needed to be mastered with some tubes in the chain, but that didn’t happen. More on that subject here.
It’s another case of an OJC with Zero Tubey Magic. You might as well be playing the CD. I would bet money it sounds just like this record. And it may even sound better. For something close to ten bucks you could find out.
I suppose if you have a super-tubey phono stage, preamp or amp you might be able to supply some of the Tubey Magic missing from this pressing, but then all your properly mastered records wouldn’t sound right, now would they?
Skip the Mono on Big Band and Quartet
Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Thelonious Monk Available Now
Stick with stereo on this title; the mono we played was a disaster and not worth anybody’s time (scratch that: any audiophile’s time).
If you see one for a buck at a garage sale, pick it up for the music, and then be on the lookout for a nice stereo original to enjoy for the sound.
Skip This One Too
The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall on Riverside (1959). Never heard a good one. Same arranger, Hal Overton, but much poorer sound.
Notes from a Long Ago Shootout
An amazingly well-recorded Big Band Concert from 1963, and these White Hot sides make the case like nothing you have ever heard. Our early pressing here is so rich, Tubey Magical, spacious and lively we simply could not fault the sound. Monk alternates between a 10 piece Big Band and his standard quartet, with magical results.
Normally our notes for the sound of the records we are comparing in our shootout fall into two categories: what the record is doing right and what the record is doing wrong. In this case there was nothing wrong about the sound to write about.
I could have tried to pick some nits, but when a record is so clearly superior to its competition, what’s the point?
Side One
The right sound — HUGE, rich, tubey and clear. No need to pick nits. This side is so HTF – Hard To Fault – that we simply have to call it MTS – Master Tape Sound.
Side Two
Transparent. Rich, smooth, balanced. Spacious and open and yet so Tubey Magical.
Tubes
On this record, more than most, the tubes potentially make all the difference.
Thelonious Monk – Straight, No Chaser
- This early 360 Stereo Columbia pressing boasts stunning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on side one and an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side two – relatively quiet vinyl too
- If you want to hear just how good Monk’s big, rich piano sounds, this copy can show you like nothing by Monk you’ve heard
- Four Stars in Allmusic, with Teo Macero producing and top Columbia engineering to ensure audiophile standard sonics
- “Thelonious Monk’s Straight, No Chaser is the pinnacle of his recordings for Columbia Records…” — TheAudioBeat.com
Getting the Balance Right on It’s Monk’s Time
There are three main elements that comprise the sound of It’s Monk’s Time: piano, sax and drums. You need all three to be balanced and correct. The mix is perfection on the best copies, with the piano, sax and drums clearly audible and in musically correct proportion to each other.
As we played the sides we noted how each of them fared.
PIANO. Clear, present and lively. Very high-rez.
SAX. Smooth, rich and tubey, with no RVG squawk to be found.
DRUMS (and BASS). Big drums in a big room. Listen to how solid that kick is. The standup bass is tight and note-like.
Surprisingly side two sounded just like side one. We could find no fault with it. It doesn’t happen very often but it happened on this copy. (more…)
The Glorious Sound of Tubes (60s Tubes, That Is)
More of the Music of Thelonious MonkOn this record, more than most, the tubes potentially make all the difference.
Keep in mind that we are referring specifically to 1963 tubes, not the stuff that engineers are using today to make “tube-mastered” records.
Today’s modern records barely hint at the Tubey Magical sound of a record like this, if our experience with hundreds of them is any guide. We, unlike so many of the audiophile reviewers of today, have a very hard time taking any of the new pressings seriously. We think our position is pretty clear, and we have yet to hear more than a stray record or two that would make us want to change our minds.
If you’ve ever heard a pressing that sounds as good as this one, you know there hasn’t been a record manufactured in the last forty years that has this kind of sound. Right, wrong or otherwise, this sound is simply not part of the modern world we live in. If you want to be transported back to Philharmonic Hall in New York circa 1963, you will need a record like this to do it.
Thelonious Monk – Misterioso
- Monk’s live 1958 release makes its Hot Stamper debut, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
- Big, lively, open and clear with Tubey Magical richness – just the right sound for this masterful quartet
- Recorded live at the Five Spot Cafe in New York City, the energy here is palpable – according to Orrin Keepnews, Monk “played more distinctly here than on his studio albums in response to the audience’s enthusiasm during the performance”
- 5 stars: “[The quartet’s] overwhelming and instinctual capacities directly contribute to the powerful swingin’ and cohesive sound they could continually reinvent.”
Fullness Is Key on Straight No Chaser
More of the Music of Thelonious Monk
What a recording! If you want to hear just how good Monk’s great big rich piano sounds, look no further.
Rudy Van Gelder, eat your heart out. This is the piano sound Rudy never quite managed. Some say it’s the crappy workhorse piano he had set up in his studio. Others say it was just poorly miked. Rather than speculating on something we know little about (good pianos and the their miking) let’s just say that Columbia had the piano, the room and the mics to do it right as you can easily hear on this very record.
Side Two
Listen to Monk vocalizing — this copy is so resolving you can hear him clearly, yet the overall sound is warm, rich and smooth in the best Columbia tradition.
Speaking of warm, rich and smooth, this is important to the horn sound too. Most copies could not make the sax as full-bodied and free of honk as we would have liked. This one did, earning lots of points in the process. Hard to fault and definitely hard to beat.
Side One
Very clear but as we said above, finding all the fullness is the toughest job in the mastering and pressing of this album. Still, quite good and better than most.