Milestone · in the Kissa Kissa racks
Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington
| Recorded | Jul 21-27, 1955 |
|---|---|
| Label | Milestone |
| Released | 1955 |
| Personnel | 3 credited players |
| Discogs | master 120749 |
The record
A Riverside date (reissued here on Milestone) pairing Monk with Ellington's songbook -- a canny move that eased skeptics into his angular world through familiar tunes. Pettiford and Clarke keep swinging time while Monk bends "Solitude" and "Mood Indigo" into something unmistakably his own.
Session personnel
- Oscar Pettiford — bass
- Kenny Clarke — drums
- Thelonious Monk — piano
Contemporary reception
No period review located yet. The vintage-press pipeline searches DownBeat, Cash Box, and Billboard for this session.
Pressings
No first pressing is on file here -- every RLP 12-201 we list is already flagged as a reissue or repress. The earliest is a 1958 US Riverside with a deep groove, and deep-groove copies carry through the 1959 small blue label pressings. After that the label color is the clock: blue in 1962, green and black by 1966. OJC-024 from 1982 is the honest modern copy; a purple marble limited edition followed in 2015.
Showing the first pressing, audiophile reissues and copies carrying a collector marker, out of 51 pressings on file.
| 1958 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Repress, Mono earliest on file · deep groove |
|---|---|
| 1982 | Original Jazz Classics · OJC-024 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, Pitman Pressing OJC |
| 1982 | Original Jazz Classics · OJC-024 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue OJC |
| — | Original Jazz Classics · OJC-024 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue OJC |
| 1958 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Repress, Mono · deep groove |
| 1959 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, Small blue label · deep groove |
| 1959 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Repress, Mono, Small blue label · deep groove |
| 2004 | Riverside Records · RCD-201-2 — CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, 20-Bit · RVG stamp |
| — | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Mono, 235 West 46th Street address · deep groove |
| 1961 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, White label |
| 1962 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, Blue label |
| 1962 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Mono |
| 1966 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, Green label |
| 1966 | Riverside Records · RLP 12-201 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, Black label |
Follow the players
Oscar Pettiford also plays on
Kenny Clarke also plays on