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Columbia/Legacy has just released two double-CD live sets by the Thelonious Monk Quartet: Live in Tokyo, recorded during Monk's first visit to Japan in 1963 and released in the U.S. now for the first time; and an expanded version of Live at the Jazz Workshop, from 1964. By this time, Monk might have been past his peak composing years, but he was still at the peak of his playing abilities—he concentrated on spinning variations on his classic compositions. And he was finally getting a wider recognition and audience—no doubt helped by the publicity from his major label contract with Columbia, which started the previous year.
Perhaps inspired by their first visit to Tokyo and spurred on by the enthusiasm of the audience, the Live in Tokyo set is an example of this quartet playing at its peak. As usual, the quartet performed a combination of standards and Monk originals. Monk's playing in Tokyo is full of his dissonances and off-centered rhythms, his perfect time, his sense of swing and movement. And drummer Frankie Dunlop, who'd been with Monk for two years, knew just when to put in an accent to fill in a space in Monk's playing.
The reputation of saxophonist Charlie Rouse has been overshadowed by some of the giants who have played with Monk (such as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins). By the time of the Tokyo concert, Rouse had been playing with Monk for five years and could perfectly navigate the twists and turns of Monk's creations. Rouse's dry tone was a good match for Monk's dry wit. There's a tension in his playing between melody and abstraction—on the closing theme "Epistophy" Rouse even seems to play pretty freely.
Live at the Jazz Workshop was recorded a year later in a club performance in San Francisco (with a new rhythm section). There's a lot of bonus material with this release—half of it was previously unissued. Here we get a club atmosphere (compared with the concert performance of Live in Tokyo), complete with the tinkles of glasses and chatter of audience members. At the Jazz Workshop Monk's playing was great, as usual, but Rouse's tone was not at its best—perhaps because the recording was made at the beginning of their gig in San Francisco, the players might have been tired from travel or not settled in. (Just before this engagement, Monk was in Los Angeles, where he recorded Live at the It Club and Solo Monk at the end of his stay there.)
I'm glad to have both these new reissues, but Tokyo is the pick of the pair.
— Alan Lankin, September 2001
Release Date: 10 July 2001
Monk in Tokyo (Columbia/Legacy)
Disc 1: 1. Straight, No Chaser
/ 2. Pannonica
/ 3. Just A Gigolo
/ 4. Evidence (Justice)
/ 5. Jackie-ing
/ 6. Bemsha Swing
/ 7. Epistrophy
Disc 2 1. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
/ 2. Hackensack
/ 3. Blue Monk
/ 4. Epistrophy
Personnel:
Thelonious Monk: piano / Charlie Rouse: tenor sax / Butch Warren : bass / Frankie Dunlop: drums
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last update 14 September 2001