Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins CD

Digitally remastered using 20-bit K2 Super Coding System technology.

This is part of the Prestige Records 50th Anniversary Special Commemorative Edition series.

These five tracks, recorded in the 1950s and reissued in 2006, feature Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins--two of the era's most progressive musicians--on the stand together. The interplay between Monk's skeletal, idiosyncratic, yet strangely logical playing and Rollins's full, rich tone and adventurous harmonic explorations complement each other beautifully on both standards ("The Way You Look Tonight") and Monk originals ("Friday the 13th"). "Friday the 13th" is the highlight of the set, featuring plenty of stretching out from Rollins, Monk, and French horn player Julius Watkins. This is a fine addition to any Monk and/or Rollins collection.

The two greatest tenor saxophonists to emerge from the cauldron of '50s hard bop, both did significant finishing work in the musical academies of Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. For John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, these master mentors expanded their range and broadened their horizons to such a degree that when they finally emerged, they too were accorded respect as original thinkers.

Sandwiched in between some memorable encounters on THELONIOUS MONK AND SONNY ROLLINS are a classic pair of Monk compositions. "Work," with its elliptical melody and contrapuntal rhythmic hitches, is among Monk's most challenging tunes, and this performance is distinguished by the trio's near-telepathic interplay, Art Blakey's chattering polyrhythms and Percy Heath's sure-footed melodic break. "Nutty" is one of Monk's most endearing blues forms, and the pianist's choppy phrasing and boisterous chording suggests his deep affinity for the work of guitarist Charlie Christian.

Rollins and French horn master Julius Watkins are featured soloists on the November 13, 1953 session which premiered Monk's devilishly tricky "Friday The 13th," with its tiered themes moving in ascending and descending directions--dig Monk's witty Chinese asides during his solo. Rollins phrases confidently all over and around the beat, displaying a growing harmonic palette, and, unlike Miles, Rollins is never thrown off by Monk's contrary harmonic joustings, but seems positively energized by the pianist's myriad juxtapositions of consonance and dissonance.

The two standards from Rollins' October 25, 1954 session ("The Way You Look Tonight" and "I Want To Be Happy") illustrate the saxophonist's growing swagger and sophistication. Monk, in a rare sideman's role, offers powerful harmonic support before breaking into his own idiomatic bag during solo breaks. Most importantly, we begin to hear Rollins vivisecting the melody into its component parts on these two familiar themes, extending on little motiffs in a manner that would truly blossom with SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS.

Recorded at WOR Studios, New York, New York on November 13, 1953 and the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on September 22 & October 25, 1954. Originally released on Prestige (7075). Includes original liner notes by Ira Gitler.

Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Julius Watkins (French horn); Percy Heath, Tommy Potter (upright bass); Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Willie Jones (drums).

Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Julius Watkins (French horn); Percy Heath, Tommy Potter (bass); Willie Jones, Art Blakey, Arthur Taylor (drums).

Engineers include: Rudy Van Gelder.