When he took the stage at the Club Doelen in Rotterdam on 28 October 1967, Thelonious Monk had just turned 50. Fifteen years later he would disappear from the music scene, taking refuge for the last six years of his life in New York at Pannonica de Koenigswater, never to touch the piano again. Flanked by the two "classics" "Ruby, My Dear" and "Blue Monk", he leads the quartet of his three accomplices, Charlie Rouse, Larry Gales, Ben Riley and their guests, for more than an hour and 20 minutes. Larry Gales' bass pops out of a box at the end of "Hackensack", the brass gets carried away in the middle of "We See"; they answer each other by swirling in the dizzying "Oska". And in the middle of the concert, a solo moment on 'Don't Blame Me': everything appears contrasting, twisted, oblique, each note seeming to be surprised by the previous one. Monk first goes around the melody from behind before bringing it back, pure, to the front. Finally they close: "Blue Monk", all classical restraint.
Tracklist:
1-1 Ruby, My Dear 5:54
1-2 Hackensack 11:18
1-3 We See 17:26
1-4 Epistrophy 6:46
2-1 Evidence / Epistrophy 11:08
2-2 Don't Blame Me 4:52
2-3 Oska T. / Epistrophy 17:34
2-4 Blue Monk 7:15
Thelonius Monk, Piano
Charlie Rouse, Tenor Sax
Larry Gales, Bass
Ben Riley, Drums
Guests:
Clark Terry, Trumpet
Ray Copeland, Trumpet
Jimmy Cleveland, Trombone
Clark Terry, Trumpet
Phil Woods, Alto Sax
Johnny Griffin, Tenor Sax
Recorded at De Doelen, Rotterdam, 28.X.1967
STEREO ℗ 1967 NOS
Recording information:
Title: Live In Rotterdam 1967
Artist: Thelonious Monk
Genre: Jazz
Media: 2x CD Stereo , Remastered, . Remastered from the original analog tapes
Label: The Lost Recordings
Cat#: FON-1704029
Released: 2017 in France
EAN: 8898546917218
