Thelonious Monk – 'Big Band And Quartet In Concert'

'Big Band And Quartet In Concert' was recorded on December 30, 1963, at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall in New York City.  It was produced by Teo Macero, recorded by Columbia Records' staff engineers Frank Laico and Fred Plaut, and released in March 1964 on the Columbia Records label.

This recording is split between Monk’s classic quartet and a full expanded orchestra:

The quartet is the "usual suspects": along with Monk's piano are, Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Butch Warren on bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums.

The additional big band musicians are Thad Jones on cornet, Nick Travis on trumpet, Eddie Bert on trombone, Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone, Phil Woods on alto saxophone and clarinet, and Gene Allen on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet.

You can't talk about this album without talking about Hall Overton’s (left on piano) arrangements that are the centerpiece of the album's success, which brilliantly translated Monk's complex idiosyncratic, jagged piano solos into rich, swinging orchestral charts.

Monk being Monk had to be pushed by Teo Macero into playing with the big band, and the musicians were unrehearsed, but it doesn't show a bit.

'Big Band And Quartet In Concert' is one of Monk's finest performance and recordings, but for some reason gets overlooked.

The freeload is a 2CD set released in 1994. This is the entire unedited concert, that adds "Bye-Ya," "Misterioso," and "Light Blue," and Frankie Dunlop's drum solos to the original 1964 release.

For the freeload let's talk about excellent albums, that for some reason get overlooked.