Thelonious Monk - Palo Alto

Thelonious Monk — Palo Alto

Monk quartet recording of a surprise 1968 high school performance

Limited edition orange colored vinyl gatefold LP

Thelonious Monk's Palo Alto is a critically acclaimed 1968 live album recorded by a high school janitor during a concert organized by student Danny Scher at Palo Alto High School. On October 27, 1968, 16-year-old Scher booked Thelonious Monk to perform at his high school to help ease racial tensions in the largely white college community. A school janitor recorded the concert in exchange for tuning the piano, and the tapes sat unheard for more than 50 years.

Released by Impulse! Records, the album features a quartet including Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Larry Gales (bass), and Ben Riley (drums). It's considered one of the best live recordings of that specific quartet.

After somehow securing Monk's services to perform on Sunday, October 27, Scher initially had trouble selling tickets and convincing people that Monk was even going to show up. With many twists and turns along the way and several hundred people waiting in the school's parking lot to await Monk's arrival before purchasing tickets, the concert eventually happened.

"That performance is the one of the best live recordings I've ever heard by Thelonious," stated T.S. Monk, son of the pianist/composer maestro, drummer and founder of the Thelonious Monk Institute. "I wasn't even aware of my dad playing a high school gig, but he and the band were on it. When I first heard the tape, from the first measure, I knew my father was feeling really good."

The vibrant 47-minute album spotlights Monk's touring repertoire, which were his finest compositions.

1968 was a tumultuous year in America, marked by the shocking assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, unsettling revelations about the Vietnam War, and protests and unrest throughout the country. Palo Alto and the primarily African-American neighboring town of East Palo Alto were no different. This was the stage for young high school student Danny Scher, a jazzhead with an idealistic bent and knack for concert promotion (who later on became a well-known promoter who worked with legendary San Francisco rock promoter Bill Graham.)

Looking back, Scher stated, "I always looked at music as a way to put issues on hold or up to a mirror, whether they be political or social. On October 27, 1968, there was a truce between Palo Alto and East Palo Alto. And that is what music does."

Included in the mix is Monk's lyrical love song "Ruby, My Dear" (Rouse boldly blowing the melody with Monk comping in his unique oblique way then taking the lead with a dazzling solo); the dynamic and spirited "Well, You Needn't" taken for a 13-minute ride with solos by all members; the pianist's captivating solo reading of "Don't Blame Me" by Jimmy McHugh; an epic dance through "Blue Monk"; and a playful charge through "Epistrophy." The show ends with a truncated encore of Monk slowly striding through the 1925 Tin Pan Alley hit tune by Rudy Vallee, "I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams" and after a standing ovation saying his goodbye because they had to leave to make their San Francisco date that evening.

The LP version of this release includes replicas of the original concert program and poster, as well as hi-res rare images of Monk and band.

1. Ruby, My Dear

2. Well, You Needn’t

3. Don’t Blame Me

4. Blue Monk

5. Epistrophy

6. I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams

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