Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins

Aside from the fact that this pressing is aesthetically beautiful, the recording itself is simply exemplary. My advice, if you're a fan of either Sonny Rollins and/or Monk: get this NOW (500 pressings) before you find it on Discogs with a 300% mark-up. You won't be disappointed.

What is there to say, its 1954, its Sonny and Monk playing together with other musical giants like Art Blakey, need I say more? This is without a doubt a "must have" for anybody that considers themselves a jazz fan. Period. My only complaint is that I wish that either I would have been old enough to enjoy this recording session in person or it (along with the recording) had gone on for another hour or two. Yes it's a must have...

Because of the two principals, this session is likely to receive ongoing reincarnations, never going out of print. But the title is somewhat deceptive. Rollins and Monk play together on 3 of the 5 tracks on the album, which comprises three separate recording sessions held between Nov. 1953 and Sept. 1954. Moreover, on "The Way You Look Tonight" Monk plays a mere half chorus, and in a fairly conventional bebop style at that. This leaves two tunes, "I Want to Be Happy" and "Friday the 13th," on which the two inimitable soloists contrast and complement one another's strong musical personalities.The proceedings are enjoyable, frequently original and illuminating, but not as telepathic, or even miraculous, as some reviewers have described them. It's instructive to hear the "real" Monk emerge on "Happy," allowing the beat to establish itself before playing off of and around it, making the piano another polyrhythmic, percussive voice as opposed to a solo voice accompanied by rhythm section or a member of the accompanying team itself (these latter two roles characterizing his work on "Way You Look").Still, I'm afraid that after hearing the Monk and Coltrane Carnegie Hall concert, this one is anticlimactic, sonically as well as musically. Moreover, Rollins, though bearing some of the same melodic-rhythmic qualities of his successor Charlie Rouse, lacks the light articulations and responsive quickness of the underrated Rouse. Compared to Rouse's sportive playfulness, Rollins sounds somewhat heavy and ponderous to me in Monk country. Coltrane's intensity meshes better with Monk whimsy because the piano serves as both ground and foil to the altissimo, rapturous flights of the tenor saxophone, as though Monk's solid harmonies are the falconer around which the falcon's spiraling harmonies are free to expend themselves without spinning out of control.Blakey and Monk, both of whom are heard here, always made for an engaging rhythmic pairing, but this session leaves you wanting to hear more. An unfortunately overlooked recording (perhaps because it was on the "wrong" label) is "Thelonious Monk with Art Blakey" (Atlantic, 1957), which also features excellent trumpet work by the sadly underrecorded Bill Hardman. It's a fascinatiing duel between two equally strong-minded music-shapers, and though Blakey delivers his brand of overwhelming firepower, Monk doesn't yield an inch--in fact, both players emerge as winners but not before a Titanic struggle.

The album is beautiful, sound quality is perfect on my little record player. Would purchase again at a lower price.

I am a Monk and Rollins fan from way back and I really enjoy this CD. I recommend it to any true acoustic jazz fan or if you're just starting a collection.

This was an excellent product and I was very pleased with the order process and the product that I received. Thanks !!!

sonny rollins' tenor playing sounds effortless, like talking or humming. jazz artists who feel the urge to play classical concert music, branford marsalis and regina carter, find ravel's pavane pour une infante defunte a seductive choice. sonny rollins' rendition of the way you look tonight is a jazz variation of ravel's pavane.monk's sound, as always, is definitively monk.rollins and monk play well together.

Happy Good Nice Sweet Not Bad Very Good Awsome COuld not be better Just buy it I like it Cool!

This is a compilation of tracks from three sessions 1953-54 which all show Monk at his best and with great sidemen. If you should buy only one Monk CD this is the one to choose.

Très bel album que je n'avais plus en CD. Vu le prix, il n'y avait pas à hésiter !!! En plus reçu très rapidement, donc parfait !

Durante el año 1953-1954, Monk y Rollins, para el sello Prestige, hicieron dos discos con un alto nivel.Ahora estos dos discos aparecen con el sonido remasterizado, y se puede apreciar en toda su amplitud y detalle el nivel de la sesión y de todos los músicos que intervinieron (entre ellos, el gran Art Blakey).Comentar cualquier discos de Monk es una tarea compleja, pero baste decir que nunca he escuchado realmente un disco que no fuera, cuanto menos, bueno, y de ahí para arriba. Éste comprende temas nuevos (que con los años reinterpretaría una y otra vez), junto con su propia visión de otros clásicos.Es incuestionable la belleza que encierra todos los temas. Hay que hacerse con él.

La registrazione ha qualche annetto sulle spalle ma è di una pulizia unica; pianoforte e sax fantastici.La qualità artistica al di là dei gusti è eccelsa: i due duettano come vecchi compari creando un mix bellissimo.Per gli amanti del jazz, del grande jazz, potrebbe essere imperdibile. Un ascolto assolutamente consigliato in ogni caso.Chapeau.

War ein Geschenk, ist aber vom Beschenkten als Knüller deklariert worden. Da dieser etwas davon versteht, mussdie Reaktion eindeutig als positiv gewertet erden.