The Unique Thelonious Monk

The Unique Thelonious Monk is a 1956 album by Thelonious Monk.^[6] It was his second for Riverside Records, and, like his Riverside debut, is made up of standards. It was a continuation of Riverside's strategy to broaden consumer interest in Monk by having him record cover versions of well-known material which, Riverside hoped, would help to break down the prevailing perception that Monk's original music was "too difficult" for mass-market acceptance.

The Unique Thelonious Monk
Studio album by Thelonious Monk
Released	August 1956[1]
Recorded	March 17 and April 3, 1956
Genre	Jazz
Length	38:12
Label	Riverside
Producer	Orrin Keepnews
Thelonious Monk chronology
Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington (1956) The Unique Thelonious Monk (1956) Brilliant Corners (1957)
Original cover
Cover of the original 1956 release. The "postage stamp" cover was used for pressings from 1958 onward.[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[5]

Riverside, at the time of the first re-issue, printed copies of the stamp that was featured on the cover art.^[2] Some of these made their way through the United States Postal Service, which issued a restraining order against the company.^[2] Monk was subsequently featured on a genuine stamp, which was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 1995.^[7]

Track listing

Side One

1. "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)" (George & Ira Gershwin, Gus Kahn) – 3:11
2. "Memories of You" (Eubie Blake, Andy Razaf) – 4:15
3. "Honeysuckle Rose" (Fats Waller, Andy Razaf) – 5:32
4. "Darn That Dream" (Eddie DeLange, James Van Heusen) – 6:30

Side Two

1. "Tea for Two" (Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar) – 5:52
2. "You Are Too Beautiful" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 4:53
3. "Just You, Just Me" (Jesse Greer, Raymond Klages) – 7:59

Personnel

• Thelonious Monk – piano
• Art Blakey – drums (except for track 2)
• Oscar Pettiford – bass (except for track 2)

References

1. "Billboard". August 25, 1956.
2. Kelley, Robin D.G. (2009). Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original. New York: Free Press. p. 249.
3. "The Unique Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Monk | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
4. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1025. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
6. Yanow, Scott (May 8, 2000). Bebop. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879306083 – via Google Books.
7. "Thelonious Monk". U.S. Stamp Gallery. Retrieved September 4, 2019.