Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall

At Carnegie Hall
Live album by
the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane
Released September 27, 2005
Recorded November 29, 1957
Venue Carnegie Hall
New York City
Genre Jazz
Length 51:49
Label Blue Note
Producer Michael Cuscuna, T. S. Monk (restoration)
Thelonious Monk chronology
Mulligan Meets Monk
(1957) 		At Carnegie Hall
(2005) 		Thelonious in Action
(1958)
John Coltrane chronology
The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording
(2001) 		At Carnegie Hall
(2005) 		Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up
(2005)

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall is a live album by the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane recorded at Carnegie Hall on November 29, 1957, released nearly fifty years later on September 27, 2005 by Blue Note.

Background

Recording

It was recorded on 29 November 1957 at "Thanksgiving Jazz", a benefit concert produced by Kenneth Lee Karpe for the Morningside Community Center in Harlem. Other acts performing included Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Sonny Rollins, and Chet Baker with Zoot Sims. The recording, by Voice of America, documents two sets by the Monk Quartet with Coltrane that night—an early set (tracks 1–5) and a late set (tracks 6–9), which the recording does not fully document.

Preservation and Release

The tape was stored at the Library of Congress where it sat untouched, until 2005 when it was discovered by recording lab supervisor Larry Appelbaum. The recording was then restored by producer Michael Cuscuna and T.S. Monk (Thelonious Monk's son).

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
All About Jazz (favourable)
AllMusic
Robert Christgau A
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings + crown
Rolling Stone

The recording has been highly praised: Newsweek called it the "musical equivalent of the discovery of a new Mount Everest," and Amazon.com editorial reviewer Lloyd Sachs called it "the ultimate definition of a classic". Soon after its release, it became the #1 best selling music recording on Amazon.com.

The discovery substantially increased coverage of Monk and Coltrane's partnership; the only other recordings known are from 4 sessions that took place in April, June and July 1957 and originally issued on Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, Monk's Music and Thelonious Himself; additionally, Discovery! believed to document a reunion at the Five Spot café in 1958, recorded on amateur equipment by Coltrane's first wife.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Thelonious Monk, except as noted.

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Monk's Mood"   7:52
2. "Evidence"   4:41
3. "Crepuscule with Nellie"   4:26
4. "Nutty"   5:03
5. "Epistrophy"
4:29
6. "Bye-Ya"   6:31
7. "Sweet and Lovely"
9:34
8. "Blue Monk"   6:31
9. "Epistrophy" (Incomplete)   2:24

Personnel

Thelonious Monk Quartet