Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk on vinyl: a pianist like no other

In short: Thelonious Monk played piano like nobody else – with crooked chords, pauses in surprising places and melodies you never forget. His pieces such as “’Round Midnight”, “Straight, No Chaser” and “Blue Monk” are part of the core repertoire of jazz. With us you’ll find Monk on Riverside and Columbia and on concert recordings that only came out decades later. The Vinyl Room currently has 15 Monk records.

What makes Thelonious Monk special?

Monk was there at the birth of bebop in the forties, but always went his own way. At Riverside between 1955 and 1959 he recorded “Plays Duke Ellington”, “The Unique Thelonious Monk”, the mostly solo “Thelonious Himself” and the solo album “Thelonious Alone In San Francisco” – music for close listening. From 1962 he was with Columbia, in our stock for example “Monk” and “Monk’s Blues” with a big orchestra.

The late finds are exciting: “Mønk” is a 1963 concert in Copenhagen that only came out in 2018, and “Palo Alto” the recording of a 1968 concert at a high school, released in 2020.

From our stock

First pressings

All Monk records

→ Riverside · Columbia · Danish jazz · Bebop

FAQ

Which pieces did Thelonious Monk write? Among others “’Round Midnight”, “Straight, No Chaser”, “Blue Monk” and “Ruby, My Dear”.

What is “Mønk”? A concert recording from Copenhagen in 1963 that only came out on record in 2018.

What is “Palo Alto”? A concert Monk played at a high school in Palo Alto in 1968; the recording came out in 2020.

Which Monk records do you have? Recordings on Riverside, Columbia and Milestone plus late archive finds – 15 records in all.