Monk's Dream (Thelonious Monk album)

Monk's Dream is an album by jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, released by Columbia Records in March 1963. It was Monk's first album for Columbia following his five-year recording period with Riverside Records.

Recording and music
"Bye-Ya" and "Bolivar Blues" were recorded on October 31, 1962; "Body and Soul" and "Bright Mississippi" on November 1; "Sweet and Lovely", "Just a Gigolo" and "Monk's Dream" on November 2; and "Five Spot Blues" on November 6.

"Bright Mississippi" is the only composition on the album that Monk had not previously recorded. "Bolivar Blues" was originally titled "Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are" and had been on Monk's 1957 Riverside album, Brilliant Corners. "Five Spot Blues" was called "Blues Five Spot" and first appeared on the album Misterioso, which was recorded in concert at the Five Spot Cafe in New York in 1958 and released by Riverside. "Monk's Dream", "Bye-Ya", and "Sweet and Lovely" were recorded for Prestige at a session ten years earlier.

Critical reception
In DownBeat, jazz critic Pete Welding gave the album five stars and called it "a stunning reaffirmation of his powers as a performer and composer."

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk – piano
 * Charlie Rouse – tenor saxophone
 * John Ore – bass
 * Frankie Dunlop – drums