A set of early 1960s Thelonious Monk performances grace the upcoming set “Monk ‘Round the World.” The second release to stem from a partnership between Thelonious Records and Hyena is due Aug. 10 and includes a bonus DVD capturing the jazz pianist/composer at London’s Marquee Club in 1965. Basketball great and devout Monk fan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar contributes liner notes.
Focusing on performances featuring longtime saxophonist Charlie Rouse, the audio disc boasts recordings from Copenhagen’s Odd Fellow Palaet in 1961 (“Rhythm-A-Ning”), California’s Monterey Jazz Festival in 1963 (“Epistrophy”), and the Alhambra in Paris in 1964 (“Blue Monk,” “Ruby, My Dear”). Also included are performances tracked in Sweden in 1961 (“Bemsha Swing”) and an undetermined European location in 1964 (“Hackensack”).
Sanctioned by the Monk estate, the releases are overseen by Thelonious Records founders T.S. Monk (the artist’s son and a performer in his own right) and Dr. Peter Grain and Hyena’s Joel Dorn, who produced the set. The collaboration seeks to issue legitimate versions of recordings that have been bootlegged for years, as well as make available previously unreleased vault performances.
Source billboard.com.
