The two CDs contain everything recorded in four sessions that year by Monk's group, which included a still largely-unknown Coltrane, although the latter had already been working with Miles Davis' group and had debuted on wax with Dizzy Gillespie six years earlier. The bulk of the tunes here were recorded for the groundbreaking "Monk's Music" LP although others here appeared on "Thelonious Himself," the "Blues for Tomorrow" compilation and "Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane," released on Riverside subsidiary Jazzland.
What's most amazing about these recordings is their revolutionary quality and, at times, their tentativeness. Both are especially stunning when the line-ups are considered. On nearly all the tunes, thundering hard bop drummer Art Blakey and the then-already-legendary tenor man Coleman Hawkins are present. There's also alto saxman Gigi Gryce and bassist Wilbur Ware, as well as trumpeter Ray Copeland (and Monk's regular drummer Shadow Wilson on three tunes).
Apart from Monk and Trane, these were not then, nor would they become active members of jazz's "New Thing," that is the experimental explosion to come. However, most, notably excluding Hawkins -- who debuted in the 1920s! -- bebop revolutionists of a decade earlier. Hawkins, however, never shied away from interesting music and tried his hand at all sorts of collaborations, unlike many of his generation. And he was a mentor to Monk, whose debut recording was as a Hawkins sideman.
These tunes show Monk at the peak of his compositional skill and amazingly, producer Orrin Keepnews remembers thinking the choice of material -- which sounds radical enough even in 2006 -- was "too conservative," according to his essay here. Monk's tunes, like "Crepescule with Nellie" -- which is heard in five distinctive versions -- challenged traditional notions of jazz. Tempos shift, the melody is edgy and even Monk struggles with the execution of his own composition on at least one of the takes.
The discs are loaded not only with satisfying final takes but fascinating outtakes that offer great insight into how a genius and his cohorts worked. The set also reminds us -- since it is the only studio document of Monk's 1957 outfit with Coltrane -- of the potential of this sadly short-lived partnership.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
