''Monk's Blues'' is an album by

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

accompanied by a big band arranged and conducted by

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

. Originally released by Columbia Records in 1968, it was re-released on CD in 1994. Produced by

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz record producer, saxophonist, and composer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'' and Dave B ...

, the album was recorded in Los Angeles by Monk's working quartet augmented by a group of Hollywood studio musicians.

Track listing

Side One # "Let's Cool One" – 3:47 # "Reflections" – 4:35 # "Rootie Tootie" – 7:35 # "Just a Glance at Love" (

) – 2:52 # "Brilliant Corners" – 3:52 Side Two # "Consecutive Seconds" (Macero) – 2:41 # "Monk's Point" – 8:03 # "Trinkle, Tinkle" – 4:59 # " Straight, No Chaser" – 7:20 CD Bonus Tracks # "

Blue Monk This is a list of compositions by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. 0-9 52nd Street Theme A contrafact based loosely on rhythm changes in C, and was copyrighted by Monk under the title "Nameless" in April 1944. The tune was also called "Bip Bop" b ...

" – 6:14 # "' Round Midnight" – 4:13 All compositions by Thelonious Monk, except where noted. Arranged by

Personnel

The Quartet * Thelonious Sphere Monk - piano *

Charlie Rouse Charlie Rouse (April 6, 1924 – November 30, 1988) was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist. His career is marked by his collaboration with Thelonious Monk, which lasted for more than ten years. Biography Rouse was born in Wash ...

- tenor saxophone * Larry Gales - bass *

Ben Riley Benjamin Alexander Riley Jr. (July 17, 1933 – November 18, 2017) was an American jazz drummer known for his work with Thelonious Monk, as well as Alice Coltrane, Stan Getz, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ahmad Jamal, and as a member of the group Sp ...

- drums Additional musicians *

– conductor *

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in ...

, Tom Scott,

Gene Cipriano Gene Fred Cipriano (July 6, 1928 – November 12, 2022), known familiarly as "Cip", was an American woodwindist and session musician, playing clarinet, oboe, flute and saxophone among other instruments. He played on hundreds of recording sessions ...

& Ernie Small - saxophone *

Bobby Bryant Bobby Bryant (born January 24, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback who played for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecock ...

Conte Candoli Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927 – December 14, 2001) was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orc ...

& Freddie Hill - trumpet *

Lou Blackburn Lou Blackburn (November 12, 1922 – 7 June 1990) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Blackburn was born in Rankin, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work in the swing genre but he also performed in the West Coast jazz and sou ...

, Bob Bralinger, Billy Byers & Mike Wimberly - trombone *

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early life Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 — a ...

- guitar *

John Guerin John Payne Guerin (October 31, 1939 – January 5, 2004) was an American percussionist. He was a proponent of the jazz-rock style. Biography Guerin was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego. As a young drummer, he began performing with Buddy ...

- drums

References

1968 albums Thelonious Monk albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Teo Macero {{1960s-jazz-album-stub