Lyrically speaking, a perfect Ten!

In the Fifties, jazz artists like John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk were among a handful of musicians who shaped the future of modern American music for several decades. The fact that they played together and that their sessions at The Five Spot Cafe were recorded is nearly a miracle, since they were under contract to different record labels. They both appear on another record ( Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants- Prestige LP 7150 ), but they don't play together! So this disc is the sole representation of their musical collaboration.

Ruby My Dear shows the young 'Trane playing mostly in the upper register of his tenor sax, with much vibrato, punctuating the sentiment in the tune. We can hear instantly the facility with which he deals with Monk's harmonic structure in this poignant ballad. Ironic piano solos are commonplace for Monk, but here he is more straighforward, with a half chorus that veers away from the polysyllabic phrasing of 'Trane's tenor. Monk's comping under Coltrane's restatement of the melody is unobtrusively perfect!

On Nutty, Monk's solo echos lines that 'Trane has drawn, showing that the conversation between sax and piano is between equals. The high point of this disc is that Monk and 'Trane clearly speak each other's musical language. Over and over, you can hear the attention they pay to the phrasing of one another, such that they complement rather than compete.

Two of the tunes add several other horns, including Coleman Hawkins, who gives forth with a taut chorus on Off Minor. The drummer here is Art Blakey, whose touch is very different from Shadow Wilson, more cymbal oriented, except for the characteristic press rolls that add exclamation points to solos.

The disc ends with an unaccompanied piano solo -- Functional -- by Monk. It's very sad that there isn't a cellar in Lower Manhattan with a box of tape from other Five Spot session waiting to be discovered. This is the sort of music I never tire of hearing.

Two Misunderstood Jazz Geniuses in Perfect Sync

In 1957, eccentric piano genius Thelonious Monk was on the verge of breaking into the jazz mainstream. He formed a quartet featuring tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, another musician who was no stranger to controversy. Their legendary collaboration (and gigs at the Five Spot Cafe) only lasted a few months, but the few recordings that it produced are classic. This studio CD (recently remastered in clear 20-bit sound) contains three great tunes by the Monk Quartet, two "leftovers" from the octet session (with Art Blakey and Coleman Hawkins) that produced _Monk's Music_, and a solo piano feature. All the tunes mix Monkish angularity with catchy melodies as only Monk could write them. It's hard to pick a favorite on an album this good, but if I have to: "Trinkle, Tinkle" really stands out for both Monk and Trane's playing (you can hear some of the earliest traces of his "sheets of sound") and Monk's unaccompanied playing on "Functional" is outstanding. But that's not to say that the tender playing on "Ruby, My Dear", or the octet versions of "Epistrophy" and "Off Minor" aren't fantastic in their own right. If you like this album, you must pick up the lower-fidelity recording of the band live at the Five Spot, as well as the aforementioned _Monk's Music_ album.

Great...for what little there is of it.

I'm giving this disc 5 stars, because it features Jazz greats in their prime, with amazing talent. However, I guess I should have paid closer attention to the song listings, because with so few tracks, this disc has only about 37minutes of music. I was hoping for more. It would act as a great introduction to Jazz for the novice, I would highly recommend it in that. For the real fan, there are lenghtier discs which would better serve your cashflow.