Brilliant Corners (album)

Brilliant Corners is a 1957 album by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. It was his third album for the Riverside label and the first, for this label, to include his own compositions. The complex title track required over a dozen takes in the studio, and is considered one of his most difficult compositions.

In 2003, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It has also been included in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, with reviewer Andrew Gilbert saying it "marked Monk's return as composer of the first order." Because of its historical significance the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

The track "Pannonica" is named for Pannonica de Koenigswarter, a close friend of Monk's.

Personnel

 * Musicians
 * Thelonious Monk — piano; celeste on "Pannonica"
 * Ernie Henry — alto saxophone on "Brilliant Corners", "Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are" and "Pannonica"
 * Sonny Rollins — tenor saxophone
 * Oscar Pettiford — double bass on "Brilliant Corners", "Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are" and "Pannonica"
 * Max Roach — drums; timpani on "Bemsha Swing"


 * Clark Terry — trumpet on "Bemsha Swing"
 * Paul Chambers — double bass on "Bemsha Swing"


 * Production
 * Orrin Keepnews — producer
 * Jack Higgins – engineer
 * Joe Tarantino – mastering