Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners (1976 Japanese Riverside SMJ-6136(M) Mono LP)

Vinyl: NM
Sleeve: NM
Obi: NM

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Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners | Vinyl LP - 1976 Japanese Riverside Mono Reissue (SMJ-6136(M), Victor Musical Industries, Inc.)

Orrin Keepnews had spent Monk's first two Riverside albums easing him toward a general audience — one record of Ellington compositions, one of standards. The third album would be Monk's own material, played by a larger group. For the sessions in October and December 1956 at Reeves Sound Studios, Monk assembled Sonny Rollins on tenor, Ernie Henry on alto, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Max Roach on drums. They recorded "Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are" and "Pannonica" on October 9 — both named for Monk's friend and patron, Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, who resided at the Bolivar Hotel in Manhattan. "Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are" is Monk's phonetic rendering of his own pronunciation of "Blue Bolivar Blues."

The title track nearly broke the sessions. On October 15, the same quintet attempted "Brilliant Corners" for four hours over twenty-five takes. The composition's unusual 22-bar structure — an eight-bar A section, seven-bar B section and modified seven-bar A — with shifting tempos had only been fully absorbed by Rollins. Pettiford became so frustrated he reportedly pretended to play on at least one take. Keepnews edited the final master from multiple takes. By December 7, Henry and Pettiford had gone — Henry to Dizzy Gillespie's band, Pettiford refusing to return. Clark Terry replaced Henry on trumpet, Paul Chambers took the bass chair, and Roach added timpani alongside his drums. "Bemsha Swing," a piece Monk had co-written with drummer Denzil Best years earlier, was recorded at that session; so was a solo piano reading of "I Surrender, Dear," the Harry Barris and Gordon Clifford standard from 1931.

This 1976 Japanese Riverside mono pressing (SMJ-6136(M)) is part of Victor Musical Industries' Jazztime Now!! series and includes Japanese liner notes.