While occasionally maligned, Thelonious Monk's '60s recordings for Columbia yielded many moments of warmth and ingenuity. His first two albums for the label, Monk's Dream and Criss-Cross, rank among his very best; the latter demonstrated the company's success in raising his profile, becoming in 1963 his sole LP to place on the pop charts. This three-CD box, like the 2000 collection of Prestige sessions, aims to push Monk's '60s music into the spotlight shared by his Blue Note and Riverside classics. While deviled by a handful of questionable choices, The Columbia Years for the most part succeeds.
Disc 1:
01 - Monk Speaks
02 - Bye-Ya
03 - Coming On The Hudson
04 - Rhythm-A-Ning
05 - Think Of One
06 - Pannonica
07 - Crepuscule With Nellie
08 - April In Paris
09 - Ugly Beauty
10 - Honeysuckle Rose
11 - In Walked Bud
12 - Thelonious
Disc 2:
01 - Reflections
02 - Blue Monk
03 - 'Round Midnight
04 - Dinah
05 - Ask Me Now
06 - Ruby, My Dear
07 - Don't Blame Me
08 - (When It's) Darkness On The Delta
09 - Played Twice
10 - I Mean You
11 - Bemsha Swing
12 - Jackie-ing
Disc 3:
01 - Nutty
02 - Straight, No Chaser
03 - Evidence
04 - Epistrophy
05 - Well, You Needn't
06 - Misterioso
07 - Hackensack
08 - Bright Mississippi
