Record labels reissuing titles that have previously existed on other mediums -- vinyl for instance -- are afforded the ability to monopolize on the extended capacity of the CD format. This allows the simulation of vintage performances in real-time with exceeding accuracy.
Live at the Jazz Workshop is a prime example of the splendor of art meeting technology. The title now includes all known useable material from the first two evenings of the
Thelonious Monk quartet's brief residency at San Francisco's renowned Jazz Workshop in November 1964. Not only is this set sporting a baker's dozen of previously unissued titles, it also includes a trio of tunes in their original and otherwise unedited form. The quartet shines, exuding wave upon wave of brilliant individual and group improvisation within the familiar confines of some of
Monk's most memorable titles. "Straight, No Chaser," "'Round Midnight," and "Well You Needn't" may be familiar, but the resurrected performances on
Live at the Jazz Workshop are anything but standard. When not establishing a melodic pattern,
Monk's percussive outbursts contain urgency and danger just below the surface. The intensity conjured on "Well You Needn't" from disc two is nothing short of a four-way tug of war.
Monk musically challenges with intensity and his uncanny ability to know when to play and when to lay out, thus allowing the trio -- led by longtime
Monk sidekick
Charlie Rouse -- to propel him back into the groove. Keen observers might notice the dates of the performances on
Live at the Jazz Workshop directly precede those of another essential
Monk release. Live at the It Club -- Complete was recorded on October 31 and November 1, 1964, at the It Club in Los Angeles. Both releases are quintessential in the appreciation of
Monk during his rightful ascension into jazz immortality. ~ Lindsay Planer