Thelonious Monk Quartet, John Coltrane - Live at the Five Spot

Discovery! At the Five Spot documents emerging tenor giant John Coltrane's brief, but eventful six month residency with pianist-composer Thelonious Monk at New York's Five Spot. Monk was reestablishing his stature and drawing power as a jazz innovator while Coltrane grew by leaps and bounds studying Monk's repertoire and learning to navigate his compositions not just rhythmically and harmonically but thematically as well. Monk's melodies were too strong simply to run the changes, and on his extended jaunt Monk's tricky, intricate obstacle course "Trinkle, Tinkle," Coltrane attacks the harmonies with such compulsive power and blissful abandon, that you can hear whole new vistas of sound revealed to the tenor saxophonist. Recorded on a dinky tape machine by Coltrane's wife Naima, the sound is vague, hissy, and distorted--yet vivid and inspiring because on none of the few studio recordings documenting this period do Trane and Monk play with such unrestrained intensity. The mere existence of these tapes far transcends the shaky nature of their "production values." --Chip Stern Amazon.com

Heresy....

...many would say, but I believe Coltrane should have stayed a Monk sideman, judging by the evidence of this recording. No other Monk hornman shared Thelonious's lust for harmonic deconstruction. Usually players like Charlie Rouse, Johnny Griffin, or Sonny Rollins imposed structure on Monk's pixilated harmonic eccentricities, then the leader comes in with a piano solo that blows that order away. Only Trane, entering his furious sheets of sound period (he's like an erutping volcano), evinces a Monkian desire to shred order, structure, common sense. The two men were a match made in heaven, and they left only a tiny handful of recordings together. This is hands down the most anarchic (the whole band sounds weirdly restrained on the recently discovered Voice of America Recording). Coltrane sounds off-mike much of the time; his sound is so damn HUGE that you can still hear him loud and clear. The audio is poor, but who the hell cares when the music is of world historical importance. When you see a shooting star it's rarely under optimal conditions either, but would you pass up the experience? December 26, 2007

What a night it must have been!!

Yes, the sound quality has something to be desired and I was initially a little put off, but the performances are amazing. Trane playing is beyond amazing. Monk is in great form. Probably not my favorite Monk/Trane recording, but some of the best performances. If you are a a fan of either of these great performers, you efforts when listening to this recording will be richly rewarded. September 14, 2007

I Mean You!

Get this disc for only one thing - Coltrane's insane, hyper-extended solo on "I Mean You!!" And that version of "In Walked Bud" is pretty damn good too! June 22, 2006

Too bad it wasn't engineered

Great gig for Monk and Trane but quality of recording is very poor since it was mastered with a home tape recorded March 20, 2006

Uninhibited Monk/Coltrane brilliance

Forget the poor quality recording, just listen to the music. This live concert shows Monk and Coltrane totall uninhibited, free to impose their visions onto the canvas of the music. Coltrane's solos are amazing, especially on 'I mean you'. There's also, among other things, a short and snappy version of 'Epistrophy.' October 22, 2002

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