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Live at the It Club
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0074646528822
Format: Live, Original recording remastered
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
MPN: 65288
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: March 31, 1998
Studio: Sony
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Editorial Review:
Recorded over two evenings in Los Angeles in 1964 and arranged in order, this recording presents the great Thelonious Monk at the peak of his considerable talents--and with his most enduring sidemen, including saxophonist Charlie Rouse and drummer Ben Riley. This version also restores 11 (!) cuts to their entirety (previous versions edited or offered shortened bass and drum solos). Aside from the now-complete versions of the set's songs, this It Club also offers three previously unreleased songs ("Teo," "Bright Mississippi," and "Just You, Just Me") and 20-bit digital remastering. The result is perhaps as close as we can come to a great-sounding complete show by one of the most fertile minds in the history of jazz. While not one of Monk's wilder live sessions, this set nonetheless effortlessly communicates the pianist's offbeat genius. From the first note, the sound (which thanks to the remaster, begs for high volume) is classic Monk: inquisitive right-hand chord exploration, thundering left-hand exclamations, and intoxicating runs up and down the keyboard fly from his fingers while the band gives him enough room so that every thought, strategy, and wild hare is allowed to range free. Highlights include an exquisitely gorgeous "I'm getting Sentimental over You", a spicy "Rhythm-A-Ning," and an uptempo "Bright Mississippi." With excellent liner notes by Bob Blumenthal and some new photos, this package rates as a must-buy for all Monkophiles. --S. Duda
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - One of the best by Monk's long-standing quartet.
On Halloween of 1964, Thelonious Monk's quartet (Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums) had been together a little more than six months (although Rouse had been with Monk for several years prior and Riley had been with him for about a year; additionally Riley and Gales had played together in "Lockjaw" Davis' band)-- it'd be over two years before any of the group would leave Monk. During this window, a number of superb recordings were made, but I'd assert that "Live ... Read More
Rating:  - Complete in More Ways than One
I never had any of the partials of these 2 gigs (10/31 and 11/1/64), so I don't know in exactly what ways the previous issues were edited/mastered/compressed etc... but if people were complaining about the previous issues then I have to assume things are greatly improved here, as there certainly isn't much to complain about now!
This is the Monk, Rouse, Gales, and Riley band. I can pretty much sum this up just by saying the sound here is excellent and these 2 discs are more-or-less comprised ... Read More
Rating: - Best CD in my collection...period
I'm a huge Monk fan. I think that he is one of the greatest jazz players to grace the piano bench. Furthermore, this particular quartet of his, made up of three practical 'no-names' plays very tight and together, and this is evident on this CD. Players are best judged by their ability to deliver in the live setting, and Monk and his boys deliver with flying colors here. From cutting blues tracks like 'Straight, No Chaser,' to ripping cuts like 'Well, You Needen't' to ballads like 'Round Midnight,' and ... Read More
Rating:  - Ho-Hum...ZZZzzzzzzz
For me, restoring the songs to their original length turned out to be problematic in the case of "Live at the It Club". QUESTION: What if the restored material (largely the bass and drum solos) turned out to be uninspired and mediocre? ANSWER: You now have two CD-lengths of mediocre bass and drum solos...
Furthermore, I feel that both Rouse and Monk weren't really 'on' those nights, either: Rouse's solos were often interrupted by Monk's intrusions, and Monk's solos sounded unusually mechanical and ... Read More
Rating: - Unmistakably a Genius
I discovered Thelonious Monk in the mid-1980s, shortly after his death in 1982, and have been enjoying his music ever since, delighted that so much of his music has been and continues to be reissued on CD. Monk led the bebop movement in the '40s and '50s, but came into his own in the 1960s, appearing on the cover of Time Magazine in 1964. His music was often misunderstood and ridiculed, but such was his genius that although attempts have been made to imitate him, no one has ever been able to duplicate his sound. ... Read More
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