There’s little doubt that 1963 was the peak year for the “High Priest of Bebop,” Thelonious Monk, who graced the cover of Time Magazine just a year later. Think about that. A major jazz musician on the cover of one of the biggest national magazines of the time. That, as much as anything, should put in perspective the massive appeal of the legendary pianist. Thelonious Monk – The Classic Quartet is a reissue from Candid Records, remastered, as are all their reissues, by engineer Bernie Grundman. The recording will be available in all formats and marks over 35 years since the last vinyl release. Lest there be any confusion, this recording is the audio portion of a television show recorded in May in Tokyo during Monk’s 1963 tour of Japan and does not have any audience applause present. It is not the live album of that same 1963 tour, Monk In Tokyo, released on Columbia Records. Yet, this same set was previously released as Thelonious Monk 1963 Japan, at various times, by various labels. The enhanced fidelity here, via Grundman’s remastering, gives it a far superior sound than any of the aforementioned.
The classic quartet is Charlie Rouse on tenor, Butch Warren on bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. Avid readers and jazz enthusiasts may recall our review of Monk, (Gearbox, 2018) of his live date in Copenhagen earlier during the same year. His quartet for that date featured essentially the same quartet except John Ore was on bass. Warren, who replaced Ore in April, was a house bassist at Blue Note from 1961-63 and can be seen on recordings of Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, and others. This quartet only remained intact through the end of 1963 so compared to the term ‘classic’ is a bit of overreach. In examining the set list, the Copenhagen set included a couple of standards whereas this Japan date has just one, and some of Monk’s most enduring compositions such as “Epistrophy,” and “Blue Monk.” Each recording contains an entirely different set list with no duplicates.
These recognizable tunes begin with “Epistrophy,” with Monk’s classic angular pianism, engaging dialogues with drummer Dunlop, and Rouse on top of the melody. The less familiar but distinctively Monk “Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are” follows with Rouse and the pianist stating the theme in unison before Rouse launches a signature swinging solo to Warren’s walking bass line, yielding to Monk for a bouncing solo, then to Warren and Dunlap for their statements. While much of Monk’s appeal can be attributed to his unpredictable note choices, this quartet is well-schooled on these compositions and know exactly where they’re headed throughout the piece as is true in the more bebop-oriented Monk staple “Evidence,” which has some of Rouse’s most inspired playing and follows the same solo sequence.
Monk puts his own spin on the standard “Just a Gigolo,” one of his favorite standards, as he renders it solo with a bluesy inventive touch, serving as the perfect lead into his “Blue Monk,” easily one of his most well-known tunes. It’s especially fascinating to listen to Monk improvise in so many ways in his double-time runs over what is basically a very simple riff. As the lengthiest piece at over eleven minutes, each member stretches out. Engineer Grundman did an exceptional job on sound clarity as each of the four can be heard distinctly throughout.
Since its relaunch in 2021 Candid has brought us many noteworthy recordings and has proved vital even on the current scene as attested to by 2023 Grammy winners Terri Lyne Carrington and Wayne Shorter, as well as 2022 multiple Grammy winner Elaine Elias. This superior recording will only enhance their fine track record.
