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Thelonious Monk - Monk In Tokyo : The Thelonious Monk Quartet - 180g 2LP

Product no.: SOPW6970

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Thelonious Monk - Monk In Tokyo : The Thelonious Monk Quartet - 180g 2LP

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Description

AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

Speakers Corner / CBS - SOPW 69-70 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl

AAA 100% Analogue - Limited Edition - Sony CBS SOPW 69/10

Mastered by Rainer Mallard at Emil Berliner

Pressed at Pallas Germany

Speakers Corner 30 Years Pure Analogue This LP is an Entirely Analogue Production

This fine recording was somewhat overlooked when it first appeared in 1973, and the same fate may await this reissue, given the fact that several other notable Monk-related releases are vying for attention during this centennial of his birth year. Monk’s quartet with Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone was formed in 1959 and endured until 1970. It was recorded more than any other group lead by Monk, and Rouse has been unfairly condemned since the beginning for the crime of not being John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, or Johnny Griffin (all heard in earlier Monk lineups). Rouse was a fine player in his own right, and his sound and phrasing were well suited to Monk’s music. Still, with dozens of live recordings by the quartet to choose from, why should listeners choose Monk in Tokyo? Rouse is in average form, but bassist Butch Warren and drummer Ben Riley swing like mad, the sound is excellent, and Monk himself sounds inspired—we hold him in such high regard as a composer we can forget what a great soloist he was. Add to all that beautiful 180-gram vinyl, and you can hardly go wrong. - The Absolute Sound

When this double album appeared on the shelves in the jazz section in the 1970s, the 'Monk' had all but disappeared from the scene. Concerts? Far from it! Something new from the studio? No way! All attempts by various managers, festival organisers and club owners to entice Monk away from the tv set in his living room to perform old or new works on the world’s stages fell on deaf ears.
The 1963 tour with appearances in Japan and the resulting album offered the same old works, but the solidly played favourites such as "Just A Gigolo" or "I’m Gettin’ Sentimental Over You" made the audience and record collectors alike sit up and listen. And weren’t "Blue Monk", "Epistrophy" and "Bemsha Swing" old favourites too - often played and often heard?

Happy memories, then, for those Japanese fans who were in Tokyo’s Sankei Hall on 21 May 1963! And happy listeners in 2016 too, when they add this LP to their collection. What more does a Monk fan (and who isn’t) want?

Thelonious Monk's Columbia work . Now come these two live sets, "in Tokyo" and "At the Jazz Workshop") in this, the latest wave of the Monk reissue campaign at Columbia. Both of these live sets are 2 cd sets and, about the actual reissue status: the Tokyo set has never before seen US stores.

"Live in Tokyo" features an edition of the Monk Quartet (with Butch Warren- b, Frankie Dunlop- d) on display for the very first time in Japan. 1963 was in fact the first year Monk toured Japan, which of course has become a veritable motherlode of Monk devotees ever since. For whatever reason, Monk's music is extremely appealing to Japanese sensibilities; maybe they GET it a little more than the rest of us. Or maybe Monk was Japanese in a former lifetime. "Thelonious-san?"

In any event, this is fine live Monk that is on par with the fantastic Live at the It Club. Beginning on the first disc, there is a nearly 10-minute version of Monk's staple driving tune: "Straight, No Chaser". This gives way to his solo piano rendition of the popular song "Just A Gigolo", done stridingly and of course- with ample cheekiness. Lesser heard "Jackie-ing" is also in the fold on the first disc.

On the second disc (still Tokyo set), the tunes are "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You," "Hackensack, Blue Monk, and Epistrophy. There are fine and lengthy quartet outings on all three of the latter tunes.

All in all, this is Live Monk delivered with a true Monkian zest and it should be acquired by anybody who knows the power of the Monk one and wants a prime historical document

What makes a great jazz musician? One that sees the genre from a new perspective? One who implements that music in a new way? One that ploughs his own furrow in terms of arrangements and content? Monk did all of these things. He was so far ahead of the jazz curve, in fact, that it took most jazz musicians years after Monk’s death to work out many of his unique compositions.

The Monk quartet were underway on their first Asian tour when this LP, recorded on 21 May 1963 in Sankei Hall, was recorded and were doing so while playing Monk’s own compositions – well, mostly – so you’ll see titles such as Straight, No Chaser, Blue Monk and Bemsha Swing on this release.

As for the quartet’s own performance? They’re on fine form and seem to enjoy the occasion. The audience appear to be enthralled and react well to the show which, in term, lifts the players to further heights. Monk especially, is plugged in to the evening and gives a series of sparkling renditions, giving the listener a full range of his own unique rhythms and his adventures in melody. More than that, though, Monk’s playing maintains a continuity that he was showing around this time. While his playing is typically intriguing and involving and, some might say, attractively eccentric, there is nothing to scare the wary or the jazz fan that has yet to taste the pleasures of Planet Monk. In fact, if you have yet to grab yourself an album by Monk, this is a very good place to start. Meanwhile, behind the great man, Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Butch Warren on bass and Frankie Dunlop on drums provide strong and solid support.

This double album has been well mastered which, in itself, has been aided by the fact that the album was recorded well in the first place.

Recording: May 1963 live in Sankei Hall, Tokyo

Musicians:
Thelonious Monk, piano
Charlie Rouse, tenor saxophone
Butch Warren, bass
Frankie Dunlop, drums

Selections:
Side A:
1. Straight No chaser
2. Pannonica
3. Just A Gigolo
Side B:
4. Evidence
5. Jackie - Ing
6. Bemsha Swing
7. Epistrophy

Side C:
1. I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You
2. Hackensack
Side D:
3. Blue Monk
4. Epistrophy

Recorded live May 1963 at Sankei Hall, Tokyo, Japan

20 Years pure Analogue

Are your records completely analogue?

Yes! This we guarantee!

As a matter of principle, only analogue masters are used, and the necessary cutting delay is also analogue. All our cutting engineers use only Neumann cutting consoles, and these too are analogue. The only exception is where a recording has been made – either partly or entirely – using digital technology, but we do not have such items in our catalogue at the present time

Are your records cut from the original masters?

In our re-releases it is our aim to faithfully reproduce the original intentions of the musicians and recording engineers which, however, could not be realised at the time due to technical limitations. Faithfulness to the original is our top priority, not the interpretation of the original: there is no such thing as a “Speakers Corner Sound”. Naturally, the best results are obtained when the original master is used. Therefore we always try to locate these and use them for cutting. Should this not be possible, – because the original tape is defective or has disappeared, for example – we do accept a first-generation copy. But this remains an absolute exception for us.

Who cuts the records?

In order to obtain the most faithful reproduction of the original, we have the lacquers cut on the spot, by engineers who, on the whole, have been dealing with such tapes for many years. Some are even cut by the very same engineer who cut the original lacquers of the first release. Over the years the following engineers have been and still are working for us: Tony Hawkins, Willem Makkee, Kevin Gray, Maarten de Boer, Scott Hull, and Ray Staff, to name but a few.

At the beginning of the ‘90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the reissue policy was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC Compact Classics, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and others, including of course Speakers Corner, all maintained a mutual, unwritten code of ethics: we would manufacture records sourced only from analogue tapes.

Vinyl’s newfound popularity has led many other companies to jump on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source from which to master: CDs, LPs, digital files and even MP3s.

Even some who do use an analogue tape source employ a digital delay line, a misguided ’80s and ‘90s digital technology that replaces the analogue preview head originally used to “tell” the cutter head in advance what was about to happen musically, so it could adjust the groove “pitch” (the distance between the grooves) to make room for wide dynamic swings and large low frequency excursions. Over time analogue preview heads became more rare and thus expensive.

So while the low bit rate (less resolution than a 16 bit CD) digital delay line is less expensive and easier to use than an analogue “preview head”, its use, ironically, results in lacquers cut from the low bit rate digital signal instead of from the analogue source!

Speakers Corner wishes to make clear that it produces lacquers using only original master tapes and an entirely analogue cutting system. New metal stampers used to press records are produced from that lacquer. The only exceptions are when existing metal parts are superior to new ones that might be cut, which includes our release of “Elvis is Back”, which was cut by Stan Ricker or several titles from our Philips Classics series, where were cut in the 1990s using original master tapes by Willem Makkee at the Emil Berliner Studios. In those cases we used only the original “mother” to produce new stampers.

In addition, we admit to having one digital recording in our catalogue: Alan Parsons’ “Eye in the Sky”, which was recorded digitally but mixed to analogue tape that we used to cut lacquers.

In closing, we want to insure our loyal customers that, with but a few exceptions as noted, our releases are “AAA”— analogue tape, an all analogue cutting system, and newly cut lacquers.

PALLAS

Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!

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Categories JAZZ Thelonious Monk - Monk In Tokyo : The Thelonious Monk Quartet - 180g 2LP

Thelonious Monk - Monk In Tokyo : The Thelonious Monk Quartet - 180g 2LP