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Review by miguelito54 October 2, 2009 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
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While Monk's first quartet with Charlie Rouse, which featured Frankie Dunlop on drums, the most Monkish of all drummers, was not often recorded in performance, there is an abundance of live recordings of varying quality of the band with Dunlop's replacement, Ben Riley. Frankly I cannot understand why the label tried to generate a surround mix from this 1965 stereo live recording. The notes do not state how it was done. Soundwise, there are better live recordings of this quartet, especially the It Club and Jazz Workshop recordings on Columbia, which would have meritted SACD reissue.
The positive aspect of this disc is the leader's playing, the fine grand piano at the Parisian Olympia seems to have inspired him, as is evident from the first few chords he strikes to test the instrument. I have never heard Monk let his chords ring so long! He is playful and driving throughout the concert. Charlie Rouse, on the other hand, seems unsure at times, almost misses entries and has trouble executing the fast runs in the theme of "Four in One"; sometimes he sounds off mike. Ben Riley solos in most tunes, too, and is in good spirits, but although he developped considerably during his years with Monk, I wish his conception was more Monkish and less hard bop. Dunlop's solos were always thematically related to Monk's themes, while Riley's are notas variable. Larry Gales' bass sounds soft and round but lacks attack. In comparison the CD layer sounds a bit more direct while the SACD stereo layer is softer, with a little less punch.
Compared with the Ellington disc from the same series, in this case SACD doesn't improve the sound. Since there are musically better recordings of that band, I tend to say this is for Monk completists only. But then you better buy the double CD version with the complete concert!
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