Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners (1956 version)

Brilliant Corners is the most complex work in the 70-song Monk canon. It speeds up, it slows down, it shifts course abruptly the musicians must have strained a few muscles trying to keep up with what was going on in Monks head. The rhythmic construction was so challenging that it took the band members 25 takes to get what they needed and even then they never recorded it to Monks satisfaction. What we hear on the album is a patchwork spliced together from the various takes. Its a gorgeously flawed work while it may have been difficult to create, it is easy to listen to.