HiFi’s Holiday Guide 2012
The Thelonious Monk Quartet Complete Albums Collection
Underappreciated and highly misinterpreted, hard bop legend Thelonious Monk was like the Notorious B.I.G. of jazz. His idiosyncratic behavior, profiled best in the highly-acclaimed 1988 documentary Straight, No Chaser, showed a musician who lived in a different world than those surrounding him, while his music showcased an oddball of jazz confusion. Gospel, blues, classical and bebop are all there, while his muscular hands gave the piano a hearty pound as if the piano was a drum. Inside the sides recorded at Columbia during the latter part of his career, Monk, alongside his quartet, continued to experiment with the world of jazz using big albums like Monk’s Dream, Straight, No Chaser and his best seller, Criss Cross. Much of his Columbia recordings were re-recordings of his previous works, but all that didn’t matter. Columbia helped propel Monk to the top of the avant-garde jazz chain. Thankfully, this highly-deserved six-CD box set proves just that. Retail price: $30
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