Thelonious Monk - Genius Of Modern Music

The beginning of a legend, preserved in its purest form. Recorded in 1947 and 1948, these sessions captured Thelonious Monk as a leader for the first time, and what they reveal is a pianist and composer so far ahead of his time that the music still sounds startling and alive more than seven decades later. Released by Blue Note Records in 1956 as part of the celebrated 1500 series, Genius Of Modern Music, Volume One remains one of the foundational documents of modern jazz.

The compositions gathered here are among the most enduring and influential in the entire jazz canon. "'Round Midnight," arguably the most recorded jazz standard of the 20th century, appears in its earliest documented form. "Ruby My Dear," "In Walked Bud," and "Well You Needn't" are similarly indispensable, each one bearing the unmistakable hallmarks of Monk's singular harmonic language, his deliberately angular phrasing, and his unique understanding of space and silence as musical elements as vital as any note he chose to play. The supporting cast is exceptional throughout, with Art Blakey anchoring the rhythm section and a young Idrees Sulieman on trumpet for the opening session.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series reissue is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray directly from the original master tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, ensuring that one of jazz's most treasured recordings sounds exactly as it should. Essential by any measure.