Thelonious Monk Plays The Music Of Duke Ellington Vinyl LP 2014
1. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
2. Sophisticated Lady
3. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
4. Black and Tan Fantasy
5. Mood Indigo
6. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
7. Solitude
8. Caravan
9. I Surrender, Dear
Monk's first major record contract was with Riverside, though at that time the company was just a small independent label that paled in comparison to the magnitude of Columbia, which would be his next step to success. The pianist's obscurity at the time, and his aura as a difficult musicians' musician, led Riverside's producer Orrin Keepnews to have Monk dedicate his two earliest LPs for the label to interpretations of songs by other composers - a homage to Duke Ellington, and a set of well-known standards. The good reception of these works by the public (Thelonious' reworking of Duke's compositions is one of a kind; he wouldn't play or record any of these tunes again until a tribute to Ellington organized in Berlin in 1969) resulted in Keepnews allowing Monk to record his own compositions in later albums.