The Thelonious Monk Quintet – 5 By Monk By 5 (Analogue Productions)

Despite various reissue formats over several decades, the seven original LPs contained in Thelonious Monk — The Riverside Tenor Sessions stood perfectly well on their own at the time of initial release and remain among the highest achievements of a truly golden age. Recorded and released between 1956 and 1961, these seven Monk combo albums were critical in Monk's emergence from a decade of ridicule and neglect to his status at the pinnacle of the jazz pantheon.

5 by Monk by 5 was deliberately conceived and executed as a quintet album. The "five" are made up of what was, at the time of the 1959 sessions, Monk's regular working quartet plus Thad Jones. That is to say, a well-integrated unit  with a striking added voice absorbed into it. The album consists of two new Monk compositions and reworkings of three earlier numbers.

This is a classic album with a lively quintet that includes Monk, piano; Thad Jones, cornet; Sam Jones, bass; Art Taylor, drums and the amazing Charlie Rouse, tenor sax — here just beginning a very fruitful association with Monk — and really adding a lot to the session with some incredible tenor work that's as angular and modern as needed for Monk's work, yet with a soulful edge that really brings a lot to the music. The album's got five long tracks — hence the title — and they're all Monk classics that include "I Mean You," "Ask Me Now," "Jackie-ing," and "Straight No Chaser."

In addition to some of his best recorded piano performances and more than two dozen of his profoundly personal compositions, the albums in this reissue series provide an overview of the era's major tenor saxophonists, with contributions by Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse and Harold Land. Max Roach, Art Blakely, Roy Haynes and Thad Jones are among the other jazz immortals featured on the essential Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music: Thelonious Monk Septet, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Thelonious in Action, Misterioso, 5 by Monk by 5 and Quartet Plus Two At The Blackhawk.