Thelonious Monk Brilliant Corners CD

Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano, celeste); Ernie Henry (alto saxophone); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Clark Terry (trumpet); Oscar Pettiford, Paul Chambers (bass); Max Roach (drums, tympani).
Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios, New York, New York in December 1956. Originally released on Riverside (226). Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews.
Digitally remastered by Kirk Felton (1987, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).
Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano, celeste); Ernie Henry (alto saxophone); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Clark Terry (trumpet); Oscar Pettiford, Paul Chambers (bass); Max Roach (drums, tympani).
Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios, New York, New York in December 1956. Originally released on Riverside (226). Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews.
Digitally remastered using 20-bit K2 Super Coding System technology.
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular & Super Audio CD players.
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano, celesta); Ernie Henry (alto saxophone); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Oscar Pettiford (double bass); Max Roach (drums, timpani).
Although Brilliant Corners is Thelonious Monk's third disc for Riverside, it's the first on the label to weigh in with such heavy original material. Enthusiasts who become jaded to the idiosyncratic nature of Monk's playing or his practically arithmetical chord progressions should occasionally revisit Brilliant Corners. There is an inescapable freshness and vitality saturated into every measure of every song. The passage of time makes it all the more difficult to imagine any other musicians bearing the capacity to support Monk with such ironic precision. The assembled quartet for the lion's share of the sessions included Max Roach (percussion), Sonny Rollins (tenor sax), Oscar Pettiford (bass), and Ernie Henry (alto sax). Although a compromise, the selection of Miles Davis' bassist, Paul Chambers, and Clark Terry (trumpet) on "Bemsha Swing" reveals what might be considered an accident of ecstasy, as they provide a timeless balance between support and being able to further the cause musically. Likewise, Roach's timpani interjections supply an off-balanced sonic surrealism while progressing the rhythm in and out of the holes provided by Monk's jackrabbit leads. It's easy to write Monk's ferocity and Forrest Gump-esque ingenuity off as gimmick or quirkiness. What cannot be dismissed is Monk's ability to translate emotions into the language of music, as in the freedom and abandon he allows through Sonny Rollins' and Max Roach's mesmerizing solos in "Brilliant Corners." The childlike innocence evoked by Monk's incorporation of the celeste during the achingly beautiful ode "Pannonica" raises the emotional bar several degrees. Perhaps more pointed, however, is the impassioned "I Surrender, Dear" -- the only solo performance on the album. Brilliant Corners may well be considered the alpha and omega of post-World War II American jazz. No serious jazz collection should be without it. ~ Lindsay Planer
By the fall of 1956, Riverside was finally primed to unleash Thelonious Monk upon the jazz world--straight, no chaser. Two superb piano trio albums of covers had set the stage for Monk the composer to re-emerge with horns, and the pianist responded with BRILLIANT CORNERS, one of his greatest recordings, featuring three classic new tunes and two formidable studio bands.
The Sonny Rollins featured on BRILLIANT CORNERS is a far more imposing presence than the young acolyte of previous Monk sessions--just witness the title tune. With its multiple themes, quirky intervallic leaps, idiomatic rhythmic changes and tricky transitions in tempo, it is one of Monk's masterpieces--a miniature symphony. So daunting were its technical challenges, that the final ending was edited on from another take. Rollins begins his solo with swaggering composure, boldly parDown Beat - 5 Stars - Excellent - "...Riverside's most important modern jazz LP to date..."