Monk led a trio comprising Barbados-born, Brooklyn-raised bassist Gary Mapp (who had a day job as a policeman) and percussion powerhouse Art Blakey, then 33, who would go on to co-found The Jazz Messengers two years later. The first Thelonious Monk Prestige session happened two months later, on October 15, 1952, a few days following the pianist’s 35th birthday, at studio boffin/engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio in New Jersey. Prestige boss Bob Weinstock, who founded the New York-based label in 1949, was intrigued by Monk when he heard him play with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, and brought the pianist to the label on August 21, 1952, signing him to a three-year contract. Thelonious Monk’s first Prestige recording session The stylishly-packaged Complete Prestige 10” LP Collection consists of five complete albums, Thelonious, Thelonious Monk Quintet Blows For LP, Thelonious Monk Quintet, Thelonious Monk Plays, and Sonny Rollins And Thelonious Monk, presented in their original early 50s 10” LP format. To celebrate that momentous occasion, Craft Recordings issued a vinyl box set of 10” LPs that were first issued by Bob Weinstock’s indie jazz label, Prestige, during the years 1952-54.
October 10, 2017, marked the centenary of Thelonious Monk’s birth. But Monk is no longer dismissed as an eccentric maverick – rather, he is revered as one of jazz’s most innovative musicians and significant composers. Monk’s music wasn’t without its detractors, though, and his compositions were often misunderstood and even ridiculed. From his very first solo recordings – for Blue Note, in the late 40s – it was clear that Thelonious Monk was an exciting new original voice in jazz, one who stood apart from other musicians as he created his own distinctive and very personal universe.