[78-L] Thelonious Monk [was Leonard Feather's Inside Jazz]

[Jeff Sultanof]

Yes, Monk made money for Columbia. Many of his albums remained in the
catalog for years, and all have been reissued on CD. Once a jazz artist was
signed to Columbia, world-wide appearances at clubs and festivals were
assured. Look at Brubeck and Miles. Both said that their association with
Columbia moved their careers into high gear.

Jeff Sultanof

On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 9:57 AM, Geoffrey Wheeler <dialjazz at verizon.net>wrote:

> The reason Riverside chose to “spoon feed” Monk to the jazz public was
> to try to make him accessible. I’m told Monk sold relatively few
> records for Prestige when he was actively recording for them. As people
> came to “understand” his music better in later years, the label may
> have sold more, but success in the record business is based on “now”
> sales not sales a decade later. Hence, starting Monk out with an album
> of known tunes, not his own compositions, made sense to Grauer and
> Keepnews. I have often wondered whether Columbia made any money off
> Monk. I enjoyed hearing Monk in clubs and heard him a number of times
> at the Five Spot, as I did Mingus. One time, I was standing at the bar
> just as Monk was ending a set, talking  with Art Blakey. When Monk
> finished, he came over and Art introduced us. I had met Art years
> before at Boston’s Hi Hat. Monk shook my hand but said nothing. I
> wasn’t in the least surprised. Oops, I misspelled Art’s name. I got it
> on good authority from Pee Wee Marquette that it is “Art Blakley”
> because that’s how I heard Pee Wee introduce him at Birdland.
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