the lineup? yeah. Rollins fresh off the untimely passing of Clifford Brown.
Dizzy Gillespie's big band. Baker, Billie, Ray. Incredible.
But yeah. the Monk/Trane recording.
Monk's changes really challenged Trane. Not that coming off smack was easy, either. Giant Steps came after his work with Monk, and then he went the complete other way with the modals. Which built
Kind of Blue. Of which I really don't give Miles that much credit.
Anyway, I think that version of Monk's Mood is exactly how you back Trane. Those arpeggi, for instance. Which is how I loved Ellington backing him. Not to take away from McCoy Tyner, of course, but you really can't compare.
Evidence just doesn't hook enough. It's got all the ingredients, but it just doesn't have that Monk feel. Crepescule With Nellie immediately sounds like Monk, and I love the false building he does around the one minute mark. It's funny to hear these songs, considering we'd be in the middle of hard bop and the cool stuff, in 57, and yet with the greatest living sax player at the time being the centerpiece, it takes two minutes of a five minute song to get past the head and into the solo. Hell, it doesn't sound like improv in this one.
in Nutty, that's the Trane we know. He starts to swing a few bars and then he just takes off, adding a few long phrases the way Miles plays nothing, but saying a lot more. Love having Monk solo after him here, and he's very melodic in that solo. Can't be all that easy considering how choppy he plays/thinks/expresses.
Epistrophy - this is a different arrangement from what I remember. That's what, a samba beat thrown in at the beginning? killer solo, regardless.
Sweet and Lovely here is clear, and it sounds like the tapers were able to pick up the bass a bit more on the ballads. It's nice to hear John (eventually) slowing it down some here and speaking more lyrically, and then they pull it back up again on you to good results.
They went through Blue Monk a bit fast, but it works. It's a masterpiece, especially love the solo between, say 3:04 and when he gives way at 3:57.
anyone who doesn't know, this was a recording only found recently.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4946796http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4949427
] and would say this about most any jazz recording that I like: But, I shit you not, this Monk w/Trane cd is the schnitzel, cat's meow, the bomb, etc. The music is beautifully performed, the group is "on," and the sound quality is superb[squeaks and all]. Trane exhibits virtuosity to boot. It must have been a glorious night at Carnegie Hall that night in 1957.
All of these tunes have been recorded numerous times, but I think this version of MM is the best of all. 
