A little present for what would be Thelonius Monk’s 95th birthday today — 100 grand minutes of Monk performing live in Oslo and Copenhagen in 1966. In the spring of that year, Monk brought his legendary quartet (tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist Larry Gales, and drummer Ben Riley) to Scandinavia to perform two televised shows. The recording, saved for posterity thanks to YouTube, features some Monk classics: Blue Monk, Epistrophy, Round Midnight and others. Sit back and enjoy.
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That mid-solo tune-up by the bassist was brilliant, especially with the nonchalant look.
monk, the biggest one
ever