Analogue Productions - AAPJ 037 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - 

Mastered by Kevin Gray at AcousTech Mastering -

Numbered Limited Edition 

 

Quite simply, this is the way audiophile reissues oughta be: the music is superb beyond any quibbling, the packaging is sumptuous, and, whether on LP or CD, the sound quality is even better than the originals. Pricey? Indubitably, but try to buy the original pressings and you'll spend far more. Monk was a singular genius as a composer, pianist, and bandleader, and these seven recordings illustrate his range and show off his strengths. If you know Monk and cherish him, as I do, you'll need this set; if you don't know Monk, or don't have much background in jazz, it offers an introduction to the quirky, powerful appeal of both the genre and one of its avatars. Either way, there's enough magic in this one to last a lifetime -Stereophile.com

 

The Riverside Tenor Sessions is a beautifully packaged box set Although it is far from inexpensive, this collection is sure to please the serious Monk fan. The sound quality throughout the box is superior (or in the case of Monk's Music, vastly superior) to the other discs out there. These seven albums are among the best in jazz, and they have never sounded better.

 

Despite various reissue formats over several decades, the seven original LPs contained in Thelonious Monk — The Riverside Tenor Sessions stood perfectly well on their own at the time of initial release and remain among the highest achievements of a truly golden age. Recorded and released between 1956 and 1961, these seven Monk combo albums were critical in Monk's emergence from a decade of ridicule and neglect to his status at the pinnacle of the jazz pantheon.

 

In addition to some of his best recorded piano performances and more than two dozen of his profoundly personal compositions, these albums provide an overview of the era's major tenor saxophonists, with contributions by Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse and Harold Land. Max Roach, Art Blakely, Roy Haynes and Thad Jones are among the other jazz immortals featured on the essential Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Thelonious in Action, Misterioso, 5 by Monk by 5 and Quartet Plus Two at the Blackhawk.

 

Like the Miles Davis quintet records contained in Analogue Productions' Miles Davis Quintet: The Prestige Recordings, these Monk albums are among the pinnacle of the LP art — and they have never sounded better.