Riverside Records · in the Kissa Kissa racks
Thelonious Himself
| Recorded | Apr 12-16, 1957 |
|---|---|
| Label | Riverside Records |
| Released | 1957 |
| Personnel | 3 credited players |
| Discogs | master 233663 |
The record
A solo piano session, mostly, with Monk stretching phrases and silences until they ache -- "'Round Midnight" recast at unhurried length. Ware and Coltrane surface only briefly, on "Monk's Mood," making their appearance feel like a held breath let go.
Session personnel
- Thelonious Monk — piano
- Wilbur Ware — bass
- John Coltrane — tenor saxophone
Contemporary reception
“THELONIOUS HIMSELF” — Solo Piano By Thelonious Monk — Riverside RLP 12-235 (1-12" LP) One of the mainstays on the jazz keyboard scene today. Monk is featured, with one exception, as a soloist. The performer handles a program of six standards and two Monk originals. It's an intimate, individualized approach that meets the melody on inventive, but caressing terms. A brand of keyboard artistry that should impress jazz lovers.
Pressings
Mono throughout, and deep groove runs a long way here -- the earliest on file is a 1957 US Riverside RLP 12-235 with white labels and deep groove, but the same number keeps a deep groove through 1958, 1960 and 1962, so the marker alone will not date a copy. Label color does the work: white, then black, then teal. OJC-254 is the workhorse reissue, 1986 and again 2016, and Riverside's 2025 CR00852 is a fresh 180-gram mono.
Showing the first pressing, audiophile reissues and copies carrying a collector marker, out of 66 pressings on file.
| 1957 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, White Labels earliest on file · deep groove |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Original Jazz Classics · OJC-254 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue OJC |
| — | Original Jazz Classics · OJC20 254-2 — CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Digipak OJC |
| 1957 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Mono · deep groove |
| 1958 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Mono · deep groove |
| 1960 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, Deep Groove, Abbey pressing · deep groove |
| 1960 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Mono, Deep Groove · deep groove |
| 1962 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono · deep groove |
| 1962 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono · deep groove |
| 1958 | London Records · LTZ-U.15120 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono |
| 1962 | Riverside Records · R-5016 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono |
| 1963 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 1L — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono · laminated sleeve |
| 1965 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono |
| 1965 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-235 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, Black Labels Grey Lettering |
Follow the players
Thelonious Monk also plays on
Wilbur Ware also plays on