Editorial Review:

Amazon.com essential recording:
Thelonious Sphere Monk was 45 when he began work in 1962 on Monk's Dream, his first recording for a big mainstream label. Thus, the 8 tracks here, a mixture of Monk originals and standards, present the bop pianist at a career peak, documenting music that is both challenging and immediately accessible. Playing with his touring quartet, Monk makes each song his own, finding a typically quirky melody line within the romance of 'Body and Soul' or the swing of 'Bright Mississippi.' Tenor saxman Charles Rouse adds some soothing horn soloing, but it's Monk's bright, intuitive playing that makes this a late bop milestone. Timeless. --Steve Appleford

Amazon.com:
Originally released in early 1963, Monk's Dream was the first Thelonious Monk album for Columbia. At the time this was recorded (fist sessions on Halloween, 1962), he had become one of the preeminent figures in contemporary jazz. His move to Columbia put him in the company of a couple of the era's other major talents and commercial successes, Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck, and his quartet was stabilized for a couple years with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse (with him since 1958), bassist John Ore, and drummer Frankie Dunlop. This album set the format for his succeeding works for the label over the next half-dozen years: a few standards mixed with originals, most of which had been recorded earlier in his career (the only new composition is 'Bright Mississippi,' itself a variation on the chordal structure of 'Sweet Georgia Brown'). However, these performances find Monk in exuberant good cheer. His playing sparkles with invention and the relaxation and calm of a career in well-deserved ascension. Critically under-celebrated in its day, Monk's Dream is rich with the confidence of a band at its peak. --David Greenberger









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Disc 1:

1. Monk's Dream (Take 8)
2. Body And Soul (Re-Take 2)
3. Bright Mississippi (Take 1)
4. Blues Five Spot
5. Blue Bolivar Blues (Take 2)
6. Just A Gigolo
7. Bye-Ya
8. Sweet And Lovely
9. Monk's Dream (Take 3)
10. Body And Soul (Take 1)
11. Bright Mississippi (Take 3)
12. Blue Bolivar Blues (Take 1)

Rating: - I wish all my dreams were this good.......
Complex, progressive, and extensivly eloquent!! One of Monk's most
genius (literally) recordings; then again what has he done that isn't genius? A definite highlight in the infinite realms of the Thelonious, not to mention the beautiful art of Jazz music. Five stars is an inadequate response to the supurb quality manifested here. A compliment to any music collection.

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Rating: - Monk's Dream
It's a wonderful collection of 12 great pieces. This was Monk's first album for Columbia. It contains four bonus tracks and three previously unreleased tracks. Most of all I wanted it because my all-time favorite 'Just a Gigolo' is on it.

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Rating: - Expanded but shorter...
This is undisputably a fantastic record. So much so, I bought it twice... once in the 80s and again when Columbia reissued it in the late 90s. The problem is this, though: the remastered version is kind of different. Most obvious are the name change for "Bolivar Blues" (now called "Blue Bolivar Blues") and the full thirty seconds missing from "Bye-Ya." (It's gone from a 6:00 minute track to 5:30, losing much of the tune the precedes the piano solo.) I've checked around and haven't found an explanation for these differences. Does anyone know?

Regardless, if you don't know the original, this won't matter to you. So buy away!

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Rating: - when I first got into jazz...
When I first started to really ''get'' jazz 3 years ago, I had a rather personal technique to decide if a record was really good or not to me: After listening once,if I was able to remember each song, it was a good sign.
When I bought Monks Dream I had the music in my head all night and ever since!!!
This has happened only 4 times since. For Kind of Blue ( no surprise), Giant Steps, the Blues and the Abstract truth and Monks dream.
There are some really good recording out there but this is really a 10 out of 10! A must in any form (CD, vinyl....)

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Rating: - Monk in top form
Monk's most creative period was the mid 40's to early 50's, when he developed his style (revolutionary at the time) and wrote most of his classic compositions. Sadly he was underappreciated by the public until after that period. By the time of this recording, 1962, Monk's style has been fully developed for a while. This record is sometimes dismissed because there is not much innovation or new compositions. I think that is a mistake. This is Monk as a mature artist refining his style with a great band. The sax player, Charlie Rouse, is not a celebrity name like John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, or Johnny Griffin, but his tone and style perfectly complement Monk on this record. Monk's opening solo on "Sweet and Lovely" is one of his best, and when Rouse comes in after a couple of minutes, it's pretty close to perfect. There's only one new song, "Bright Mississippi", but it's one of his classics. When Monk covers standards like "Like a Gigolo" and "Body and Soul" he makes them sound like they are his songs. I highly recommend this one.