I am reading Robin D.G. Kelley's Thelonious Monk bio. This is the longest musician biography I have ever read, but it is certainly worth it.
Naturally, this is leading me to spend most of my summer listening to Monk. I have not been as systematic as I should be, but I have tried to keep up on records as they are discussed in the book. Currently, I am at the point where Monk is about to sign with Columbia.
Speaking of Columbia, in the last couple of years I added a lot of Monk from that period, which I had always under-valued. I'm finding it was ridiculous to avoid this period, as there are plenty of jewels here.
I have always acquired The Unique Thelonious Monk (trio session and second record for Riverside), which is pretty decent. I guess I never had it before because it contains no Monk compositions.
Quite a bit of Monk I had never had in digital format, but I'm changing that now--such as the Prestige sessions, the Ellington record, and the Five Spot record with Coltrane.
I am curious to know which Monk people find most enjoyable, as well as what stuff they would like to add to their collections.