The Classic Quartet (Mono Remastered) Thelonious Monk

• 1 Epistrophy (Remastered) 05:45
• 2 Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are (Remastered) 08:49
• 3 Evidence (Remastered) 08:50
• 4 Just A Gigolo (Remastered) 03:20
• 5 Blue Monk (Remastered) 11:22
• Total Runtime 38:06

Info for The Classic Quartet (Mono Remastered)

At the time of this recording, Thelonious Monk was at both a creative and critical peak. He had recently signed with Columbia Records, notably one of the biggest jazz labels in the world at the time, and the following year became the third jazz musician in history to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.

The Classic Quartet is comprised of Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Butch Warren on bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. The recording captures what is undoubtedly one of the very best sets of the era. The songs, classic Monk repertoire, will be familiar to any Monk fan. That includes what is by all accounts an exceptional version of one of Monks favorite standards, Just A Gigolo.

"A highlight of this concert, of any Monk concert, is his solo number. Here it’s “Just a Gigolo,” a standard that Louis Armstrong recorded in 1931. It’s hard to describe the appeal of a Monk ballad performance. His hesitations are broken up by emphatic thumps, so it can sound as if he is just learning the piece. Monk seems to be listening to his own playing as if it were someone else’s. Then he will start striding with his left hand. There’s a humorous side to this deconstruction of a standard, but it is also touching. To misuse one of his titles, it’s Monk’s dream we are hearing, something intimate even when it’s blaring." (Michael Ullman, artsfuse.org)

"The audio portion of a television show Thelonious Monk recorded in Tokyo during his 1963 tour of Japan, The Classic Quartet features Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Butch Warren on bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums delivering a fairly standard Monk set of the day. It opens with the familiar "Epistrophy," followed by a rare live version of "Bolivar Blues," the newly arranged "Evidence" (based on the chord structure of "Just You, Just Me"), a heartbreakingly lovely solo piano take on "Just a Gigolo," and ending with an extended and bluesy version of "Blue Monk." The sound is very good, with the drums and bass up more in the mix than usual, which gives the set a little extra punch, and Rouse -- perhaps Monk's most sympathetic musical collaborator -- is in typically good form on tenor sax. The highlight is Monk's solo spot on "Just a Gigolo," where his angular, dissonant piano lines restructure and reassemble the melody into a halting, delicate, and poignant mini-masterpiece, demonstrating Monk's uncanny ability to adapt standards into his own eccentric space. The Classic Quartet makes a nice addition to the Monk discography." (Steve Leggett, AMG)

Thelonious Monk,piano
Charlie Rouse, tenor saxophone
Butch Waren, double bass
Frankie Dunlop, drums

Recorded in Studio G, Tokyo Broadcasting System TV, May 23, 1963
This recording is the audio portion of a television show recorded in Tokyo during Monk’s 1963 tour of Japan
Meticulously restored and remastered by award-winning engineer Bernie Grundman

Digitally remastered MONO-RECORDING

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