Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk

This album marks Thelonious Monk's sole recording as a member of Art Blakey's celebrated Jazz Messengers. The pianist and drummer were very close friends who understood each other well on both a personal and musical level. In fact, Blakey was present on both Monk's first and last studio sessions, spanning a period of 24 years from the 1947 quintet and trio recordings to the last sets taped in London in 1971, when Blakey and Monk were touring with the group called the "Giants of Jazz" (which also included Sonny Stitt, Dizzy Gillespie, Kai Winding and Al McKibbon). With the exception of Johnny Griffin's "Purple Shades", all of the compositions on this album are classic Thelonious Monk tunes. 180-GRAM COLORED RED VINYL - THE COMPLETE LP + 2 BONUS TRACKS - Contains new specially prepared liner notes by Penguin Guide to Jazz's writer BRIAN MORTON and by Paris' prestigious JAZZ MAGAZINE. LIMITED EDITION

Tracklist:

Side A:

1. EVIDENCE 6:42
2. IN WALKED BUD 6:36
3. BLUE MONK 7:50
4. IN WALKED BUD [first version] 2:55 *

Side B:

1. I MEAN YOU 7:59
2. RHYTHM-A-NING 7:17
3. PURPLE SHADES 7:40
4. EVIDENCE [solo piano versión] 3:05 *

Personnel: 

THELONIOUS MONK, piano

ART BLAKEY, drums

JOHNNY GRIFFIN, tenor sax

BILL HARDMAN, trumpet

SPANKY DeBREST, bass

All compositions by Thelonious Monk

except “Purple Shades” (Johnny Griffin)

New York City, May 14 (A3, B1) & 15 (A1-A2; B2-B3), 1957

Original sessions produced by Nesuhi Ertegün.

* Bonus Tracks:

A4: George Tait (tp), Sahib Shihab (as), Thelonious Monk (p), Bob Paige (b),

Art Blakey (d). New York, November 21, 1947.

B4: Thelonious Monk (unaccompanied piano).

Paris, France, June 7, 1954.