Always know

chronology
Always know
Studio album by Thelonious Monk
Publication ; (s)	1979
Label (s)	Columbia Records
Format (s)	2 LP, CD
Genre (s)	jazz
Title (number)	13
running time	1:28:14
occupation	Piano: Thelonious Monk; Tenor saxophone : Charlie Rouse (A2-3, B1-2, B4, C1-1, D3); Alto saxophone : Phil Woods (A3, C2); Arrangement : Hall Overton (A3, C2); Baritone saxophone , bass clarinet , clarinet : Gene Allen (A3, C2); Soprano saxophone : Steve Lacy (A3, C2); Trumpet . Eddie Bert (A3, C2); Trumpet : Nick Travis , Thad Jones (A3, C2); Double bass : Butch Warren (A2-3, B2, B4, C2), John Ore (B1, C1), Larry Gales (D1, D3); Drums : Frankie Dunlop (A2-3, B1-2, C1-2), Ben Riley (B4, D1, D3);
production	Teo Macero
Studio (s)	New York City & a.

Always Know is a compilation album with previously re-released music by Thelonious Monk . The recordings, which were made in the Columbia Studios in New York and the pianist performed live from November 2, 1962 to February 14, 1968, appeared in 1979 as a double LP on Columbia Records . Monk can be heard with three piano solos, with his regular working quartet, in a trio with “Easy Street” and excerpts from his Lincoln Center concert with a nonet.

background

The compilation contained a number of alternate takes of the Columbia studio sessions and 1979 as yet unreleased live recordings from 1962 to 1968. From the studio sessions for the first Columbia album Monk's Dream (1962, with Charlie Rouse , John Ore and Frankie Dunlop ) came the tracks "Monk's Dream (original)" (November 2, 1962) and "Coming on the Hudson" (November 6). "Criss Cross" was recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 4, 1963 and was then included on the 2002 edition At Newport 1963 & 1965 . “Bye-ya”, “Played Twice” and “Light Blue” were unpublished tracks from Monk's concert with a big band ( Big Band and Quartet in Concert ) on December 30, 1963. “Epistrophy” was composed of a quartet (like also "Stuffy Turkey") on January 30, 1964 when recording for It's Monk's Time (1964), as well as an alternate version of "Shuffle Boil" (March 9, 1964).

The concert recording " Honeysuckle Rose (incomplete)" with Charlie Rouse, Larry Gales and Ben Riley came from a performance by the quartet at the Jazz Workshop , San Francisco on November 3, 1964; he then appeared in 1982 on the live album Live at the Jazz Workshop . "Introspection" and "Darn That Dream" were alternate takes of the Solo Monk session on March 2, 1965; they appeared in 1998 in the compilation Monk Alone: The Complete Columbia Solo Studio Recordings 1962-1968 . The piano solo number "This Is My Story, This Is My Song" was written on November 14, 1966 while recording the album Straight, No Chaser (1967). It is a known Christian hymn in the United States that Monk recorded only once. The text was written in 1873 by the blind hymn author Fanny Crosby to the music of Phoebe Knapp. The last track in time, the swing number "Easy Street" was played by Monk in trio with Larry Gales and Ben Riley on February 17, 1968 during the recordings for Underground , on which a version of the track was shortened to 5:52 when the LP was released in 1968 found.

Track list

Thelonious Monk: Always Know (Columbia CBS 469185-2)

A1 This Is My Story, This Is My Song (Fanny Crosby, Phoebe Knapp) 1:40
A2 Criss Cross (Monk) 8:08
A3 Light Blue (Monk * ´) 12:51

B1 Monk's Dream (Monk) 5:15
B2 Played Twice (Monk) 7:33
B3 Darn That Dream ( Eddie DeLange , Jimmy Van Heusen ) 3:39
B4 Epistrophy (Clarke, Monk) 5:05

C1 Coming on the Hudson (Monk) 7:33
C2 Bye-Ya (Monk) 11:00
C3 Introspection (Monk) 2:15

D1 Easy Street (Alan Rankin Jones) 7:49
D2 Shuffle Boil (Monk) 5:26
D3 Honeysuckle Rose ( Andy Razaf , Fats Waller ) 10:00

reception

Scott Yanow gave the album four (out of five) stars in Allmusic and found the record to be particularly recommended to Monk's fans as it contained a variety of unreleased material from the pianist and composer's six years with Columbia. The music on this Two-Fer is "on the same consistently high level as his Columbia recordings from the 1960s" and contains "some surprising moments."

Individual evidence

^ Previously published on the compilation The Giants of Jazz (Columbia CS 8770).
↑ ^a ^b Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed March 1, 2020)
↑ Alan Rankin Jones, who died in 1945, composed "Easy Street" in 1940. The title was first recorded by Jimmy Lunceford and his orchestra (vocals Trummy Young ), followed by versions by Dorothy Dandridge , Sonny Dunham , Duke Ellington , Tommy Dorsey , Stan Kenton , Earl Hines, and Nat King Cole .
↑ Thelonious Monk: Always Know at Discogs
^ Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 29, 2020.

[1] Previously published on the compilation The Giants of Jazz (Columbia CS 8770).

[lord-2] Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed March 1, 2020)

[3] Alan Rankin Jones, who died in 1945, composed "Easy Street" in 1940. The title was first recorded by Jimmy Lunceford and his orchestra (vocals Trummy Young ), followed by versions by Dorothy Dandridge , Sonny Dunham , Duke Ellington , Tommy Dorsey , Stan Kenton , Earl Hines, and Nat King Cole .

[4] Thelonious Monk: Always Know at Discogs

[all-5] Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 29, 2020.