Monk Reissues Due in August

Four Columbia-era Thelonious Monk albums will be reissued August 19: Underground, Solo Monk, Criss-Cross and It’s Monk Time. These discs are stone-cold classics and it’s about time they get the 21st century reissue treatment. The last time these albums were issued on CD each had the “Columbia Jazz Masterpieces” logo on its cover, and any music listener worth his or her pair of Sennheiser HD 580 headphones can tell you: that means a disc is going to sound a little bit hurting.

But that was roughly ten years ago and reissuing has come oh so very far since then. We can rebuild these treasured discs. We have the technology to make them better than they sounded before. We have the capability to include tracks heretofore unissued. And each of these Monk discs will include three bonus tracks, except for Solo Monk, which carries an extra nine cuts not included on the original LP. Track lists follow.

The reissue news is great for Monk-o-philes, but the hardest of the hardcore Monk fans should also check out the CDs available at theloniousrecords.com, a Monk family-run Web space that has rare Thelonious for sale. The CDs are mostly live dates, but one is an unusual disc of Monk practicing the changes to “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You.” Like we said, only the Monk-crazy will dig it.

Track lists for Columbia/Legacy reissues:

Underground

Thelonious

Ugly Beauty

Raise Four

Boo Boo’s Birthday

Easy Street

Green Chimneys

In Walked Bud

Bonus tracks:

Ugly Beauty (Take 4)

Boo Boo’s Birthday (Take 2)

Thelonious (Take 3)

Criss-Cross

Hackensack

Tea for Two

Criss Cross

Eronel

Rhythm-a-Ning

Don’t Blame Me

Think of One

Crespuscle with Nellie

Pannonica

Bonus tracks:

Coming on the Hudson

Tea for Two (Take 9)

Eronel (Take 3)
It’s Monk Time

Lulu’s Back in Town

Memories of You

Stuffy Turkey

Brake’s Sake

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Shuffle Boil

Bonus tracks:

Epistrophy (Take 1)

Nice Work If You Can Get It (Take 2)

Shuffle Boil (Take 5)

Solo Monk

Dinah

I Surrender, Dear

Sweet and Lovely

North of the Sunset

Ruby, My Dear

I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You)

I Hadn’t Anyone Till You

Everything Happens to Me

Monk’s Point

I Should Care

Ask Me Now

These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)

Bonus tracks:

Introspection

Darn That Dream

Dinah (Take 1)

Sweet and Lovely (Take 1)

Ruby, My Dear (Take 1)

I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You) (Take 1)

I Hadn’t Anyone Till You (Take 2)

Everything Happens to Me (Retake 1)

Ask Me Now (Take 1)

Originally Published June 13, 2003