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

[David Lennick]

He even rated a Columbia Record Club Exclusive LP "Monk's Miracles" (DS 338). 
"Monk Misterioso" turns up quite frequently.

dl

Jeff Sultanof wrote:
> 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.
>> _______________________________________________