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Liberator 5.1
Thelonious Monk w/ John Coltrane
At Carnegie Hall

The historical magnitude of this recording would be tantamount to finding an unreleased albums worth of material from Notorious BIG and Tupac discovered in 2043, from lost recordings from 1993.  Well you get the idea. Two of the most visionary, complicated and misunderstood artist of their time, who constantly battled to make music they in heard in the head, which others thought were crazy, into reality.  This lost live recording from Carnegie Hall in 1957 captures two giants at the crossroads. Found by an archivist Larry Applebaum this benefit gig at Carnegie Hall taped by the Voice Of America is a true lost treasure. Monk and Coltrane joined after Coltrane was kicked out of Mile Davis band as he battled through addiction.  As energetic, exuberant the playing is also confident and brilliant as Coltrane & Monk find an incredible chemistry. Billed as two 25-minute sets, each performance getting stronger as the set builds. Monks’ multi-layered, complex compositions are difficult, yet Coltrane was finding the restraints of playing within Monks’ work refreshing and challenging. With drummer Shadow Wilson and bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik laying the rhythmic foundations.  Every track is a moment in itself, weather the improvisations of “Nutty’ the exchange of powerful solos on  “Epistrophy” or  “Bye-Ya” which begins as tightly structured bebop lead by Monk, before breaking in the sheer brilliance of Coltrane. The elegance of “Sweet & Lovely” and “Blue Monk” transcend the listener back to a time when performances were masterful work of art unfolding before your eyes. The native notion that something magical might just happen tonight.  A rare true classic.

words: jon jon