Inducted into the Grammy hall of fame in 2007, “With John Coltrane” would be remembered as a culturally significant record celebrating the union of two greats. Coltrane and Monk played music together for four years until this point, with Monk as bandleader recording other records. But Coltrane was finding his direction leading a newly found spiritual life and would become a bandleader. This record was released after they split. It features three tracks from their Five Spot residency, two outtakes from “Monk’s Music,” and another from “Thelonious Himself.”
When people talk about music, they often point toward a few great characters who changed everything all on their own. But the reality is often stranger and more complicated than even a handful of great people. Thelonious Monk was one of those shadow characters who impacted jazz’s modern age as strongly as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis but never got the mainstream credit. The jazz pianist and composer was an early creator of bebop which dominated post-war jazz but would remain largely invisible until collaborating with John Coltrane. He popularized harmonic techniques that avant-garde jazz would become known for in the ‘60s and onwards. He finally received serious recognition by the early ‘60s as one of the most influential jazz composers of the century.
