Thelonious Monk - Misterioso

The most impresssive point to be made about his record is that it is a product of precisely the same night's work as the earlier Riverside album, Thelonious Action; the two are in all respects a matched set. On the evening of August 7, 1958, recording equipment was rather precariously set up in the always-overcrowed Five Spot, the room where Monk had made his triumphant recent return to the New York club scene and was now appearing with a new quartet featuring Johnny Griffin. This turned out to be the first successful live recording of Thelonious (he had rejected the results of a night's work here a month earlier), and the substantial number of Monk-approved performances were readily programmed onto two full and equally memorable albums.

"...thanks to the outstanding mastering choices and the 4 side, 45rpm spread, dynamics and instrumental timbres are believable and the overall effect is of a lively, vivid presentation with great image three dimensionality and rhythmic drive...Listening to this great reissue is about as close as you can come to being at The Five Spot Cafe, August of 1958. Highly recommended! These limited editions are sure to sell out, if not sooner, then later, and they will become collector's items in the (not to distant). So if you can afford the admittedly steep ($50) asking price, get this and some of the others while you can." Music = 10/11; Sound = 10/11 - Michael Fremer, www.musicangle.com