Monk, Thelonious - Discography

Recordings
Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk's first sessions as a bandleader were recorded between 1947 and 1952, and released on Blue Note records as a series of 78 RPM singles. These singles were then compiled in later years--with additional performances from the sessions--into long-playing album formats. As Monk's reputation and fame grew, the sessions were recompiled again and again into more complete configurations.

The Blue Note Sessions

 * The Blue Note recordings were made over the course of six sessions. "Versions" refers only to the number of eventually-released performances; other takes may have been recorded.


 * All compositions by Thelonious Monk unless otherwise noted.

Session 1: October 15, 1947

 * 1. "Humph"

2. "Evonce" (Idrees Sulieman, Ike Quebec) [2 versions] 3. "Suburban Eyes" (Ike Quebec) [2 versions] 4. "Thelonious"

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk - piano, Art Blakey - drums, Gene Ramey - bass, Idrees Sulieman - trumpet, Danny Quebec West - alto saxophone, Billy Smith - [[:Category:Tenor Saxophone|tenor saxophone

]]

Session 2: October 24, 1947

 * 5. "Nice Work If You Can Get It" (George Gershwin) [2 versions]

6. "Ruby My Dear" [2 versions] 7. "Well You Needn't" [2 versions] 8. "April in Paris" (Vernon Duke) [2 versions] * Yip Harburg wrote lyrics for this song, but these recordings are instrumental. 9. "Off Minor" 10. "Introspection"
 * Ira Gershwin wrote lyrics for this song, but these recordings are instrumental.

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk - piano, Art Blakey - drums, Gene Ramey - bass, George Taitt - trumpet,

Session 3: November 21, 1947

 * 11. "In Walked Bud"

12. "Monk's Mood" 13. "Who Knows? [2 versions]" 14. "'Round Midnight"

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk - piano, Art Blakey - drums, Bob Paige - bass, Kenny Dorham - trumpet, Sahib Shihab - alto saxophone, Kenny "Pancho" Hagood - vocals (Songs 19 & 20)

Session 4: July 2, 1948

 * 15. "Evidence"

16. "Misterioso" [2 versions] 17. "Epistrophy" (Thelonius Monk, Kenny Clarke) 18. "I Mean You" 19. "All the Things You Are" (Jerome Kern) 20. "I Should Care" (Sammy Cahn, Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston) [2 versions]
 * Oscar Hammerstein II wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk - piano, Shadow Wilson - drums, John Simmons - bass, Milt Jackson - vibraphone,

Session 5: July 23, 1951

 * 21. "Four in One" [2 versions]

22. "Criss Cross" [2 versions] 23. "Eronel" (Monk, Sulieman, Sadik Hakim) 24. "Straight, No Chaser" 25. "Ask Me Now" [2 versions] 26. "Willow Weep for Me" (Ann Ronnell)

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk - piano, Art Blakey - drums, Al McKibbon - bass, Milt Jackson - vibraphone, Sahib Shihab - alto saxophone

Session 6: May 30, 1952

 * 27. "Skippy" [2 versions]

28. "Hornin' In" [2 versions] 29. "Sixteen" [2 versions] 30. "Carolina Moon" (Benny Davis, Joe Burke) 31. "Let's Cool One" 32. "I'll Follow You" (Fred E. Ahlert) * Roy Turk wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk - piano, Max Roach - drums, Nelson Boyd - bass, Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone, Lucky Thompson - [[:Category:Tenor Saxophone|tenor saxophone

]]

Prestige Records (1952-1954)

 * Thelonious Monk Trio (Prestige 7027), 1952-4
 * Monk (Prestige 7053) recorded 1953-4
 * Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins (Prestige 7075), recorded 1953-54

Riverside Records (1955-1961)

 * Thelonious Monk plays the Music of Duke Ellington (1955)
 * The Unique Thelonious Monk (1955)
 * Brilliant Corners (1956 recording with Sonny Rollins and Clark Terry)
 * Thelonious Himself (1957)
 * Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (1957 recordings, 1961 issue)

Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.[19]
 * Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Atlantic, 1957)
 * Monk's Music (1957)
 * Mulligan Meets Monk (1957, with Gerry Mulligan)
 * Thelonious Monk Quartet Live at the Five Spot: Discovery! (w/ John Coltrane, recorded 1957, released in the 1990s on Blue Note)
 * Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall (1957, released 2005 on Blue Note.)
 * The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings (2006 collection of the 1957 studio recordings with Coltrane)
 * Thelonious in Action and Misterioso (1958, live at the Five Spot with Johnny Griffin)
 * The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall (1959, Charlie Rouse joined the band then)
 * 5 by Monk by 5 (1959)
 * Thelonious Alone in San Francisco (1959)
 * Thelonious Monk and the Jazz Giants (1959)
 * Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk (1960, with Charlie Rouse)
 * Monk in France (1961)
 * Thelonious Monk in Italy (recorded 1961)

Concert (France)

 * Thelonious Monk Nonet Live In Paris 1967 (France's Concert LP FC-113, 1967)

Columbia Records (1962-1968)

 * Monk's Dream (1962)
 * Criss Cross (1962)
 * Monk in Tokyo (1963)
 * Miles & Monk at Newport (1963, with unrelated 1958 Miles Davis performance)
 * Big Band and Quartet in Concert (1963)
 * It's Monk's Time (1964)
 * Monk (1964)
 * Solo Monk (1964)
 * Live at the It Club (1964)
 * Live at the Jazz Workshop (1964)
 * Straight, No Chaser (1966)
 * Underground (1967)
 * Monk's Blues (1968)

As A Sideman
Monk played as a sideman with numerous artists.

With Coleman Hawkins

 * Bean and the Boys (Prestige 7824) 1944

With Miles Davis

 * Bags' Groove (Prestige, 1954)
 * Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (Prestige, 1954)

With Sonny Rollins

 * Moving Out (Prestige 7058) 1954 (on one track)
 * Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1957)

With Gigi Gryce

 * Nica's Tempo (Savoy, 1955)

With Clark Terry

 * In Orbit (Riverside, 1958)

Compilations

 * Monk's Greatest Hits (1968)
 * April in Paris (Monk album)|April in Paris (1981 2-LP set of the 18 April 1961 Paris recordings)
 * Monk's Classic Recordings (1983)
 * Blues Five Spot (1984, unissued recordings from 1958–61, with various saxophonists and Thad Jones, cornet)
 * Live at Monterey Jazz Festival '63 (sept. 21-2, 1963, MFSL, 2 vols. issued 1996-7 )
 * Something in Blue, Nice Work in London, Blue Sphere and The Man I Love (all 1971 recordings, collected in The London Collection 1988, three CDs)
 * Midnight at Minton's (c.1941, issued 1973 under Don Byas' name. Monk does not play on all tracks of this or the other two CDs of 1941 material)
 * After Hours (1973 album)|After Hours (c.1941, issued 1973 under Charlie Christian's name)
 * After Hours in Harlem c.1941, issued 1973 under Hot Lips Page's name
 * The Complete Prestige Recordings of Thelonious Monk (2000, 3 CD, Prestige)
 * The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk (1994, 4 CD, Blue Note)
 * The Complete Riverside Recordings of Thelonious Monk (1991, 15 CD, Riverside)
 * Monk Alone: The Complete Solo Studio Recordings of Thelonious Monk 1962-1968 (1998, 2 CD, Sony)
 * The London Collection (1988, 3 CD)
 * The Columbia Years: '62-'68 (2001, 3 CD, Sony)
 * The Complete Vogue Recordings/The Black Lion Sessions (1954–71) (3LP, Mosaic)