Thelonious Monk – 5 by Monk by 5

Five pieces, five personalities

The title almost supplies a set of instructions: five Monk compositions, performed by five musicians. Yet 5 by Monk by 5 is interesting precisely because this music refuses to become a formula. In June 1959, Thelonious Monk enters Reeves Sound Studios in New York with Charlie Rouse, Sam Jones and Art Taylor. Thad Jones adds cornet to the quartet, giving the working group a fifth voice and a distinctive new color.

Two new pieces sit alongside three earlier compositions. The album offers the excitement of discovery and the pleasure of hearing familiar music from another angle. Within a Monk collection, this less frequently discussed session provides an intimate meeting with both the composer and the leader of a small band.

Passing on a melody

According to the published account of the session, Monk teaches “Jackie-ing” to his colleagues by humming it. That detail suits music whose character cannot be reduced to written note values. A melody also has to be spoken through its accents, its attack and the space between phrases. “Played Twice” makes its first released appearance here; this LP contains Take 3, without the alternative performances added to later editions.

Thad Jones plays cornet and Charlie Rouse tenor saxophone, with Sam Jones on double bass and Art Taylor on drums. Rouse is still near the beginning of his association with Monk. Following the changes between theme, accompaniment and reply can be as rewarding as concentrating on an individual solo.

Familiar compositions remain open

“Straight, No Chaser,” “I Mean You” and “Ask Me Now” provide the familiar part of the program. Returning to a composition does not simply mean repeating it. A different group changes the outline of a phrase and the response it receives. Cornet beside tenor gives these exchanges a particularly appealing starting point.

Taking time for a complete side allows the five individual voices to become a shared language. The interest lies in the small decisions made together, without the need for a grand setting. This is an album worth approaching with that kind of attention.

The Analogue Productions LP

AAPJ 1150 presents the album on one 180-gram LP at 33⅓ RPM, in stereo. Kevin Gray cut the lacquers at AcousTech; the documented metalwork leads back to the Riverside Tenor Sessions edition of 1997/98. The later repress should therefore not be described as a new mastering.

Analogue Productions identifies the original analog master tape as the source and specifies Quality Record Pressings and a Stoughton tip-on jacket for the current edition. Its analog-mastering statement is a manufacturer claim. The record contains the five album tracks without the subsequent CD bonus takes: a focused encounter with Monk’s 1959 quintet.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

More by Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners · Misterioso

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Participants and documented credit status. Track references correspond to the tracklist.

• Thelonious Monkpiano, compositionParticipation: Album personnel
• Thad JonescornetParticipation: Album personnel
• Charlie Rousetenor saxophoneParticipation: Album personnel
• Sam Jonesdouble bassParticipation: Album personnel
• Art TaylordrumsParticipation: Album personnel

Produced by Orrin Keepnews. Recorded by Jack Higgins. Quintet on all five tracks.