This is an all-time classic that has rarely been out of the catalogues, but the excuse for revisiting it is veteran producer Orrin Keepnews' new reissue series with revised liner notes, and a considerably raised profile for Thelonious Monk in the UK - particularly following Jason Moran's acclaimed recent Monk-devoted tour. The 1956 Brilliant Corners session was the toughest time producer Keepnews could ever recall in a studio, with 24 takes on a title track so treacherous that even musicians of the calibre of Sonny Rollins and Clark Terry couldn't get it right.
Though Brilliant Corners could only be released after a nightmare of tape-splicing, it's astonishing how fresh it sounds, and how much the improvisers managed to salvage from it. The inimitably dirgey theme tune brings a solo of drily laconic foghorn blurts from Rollins, and a typical break of writhing lines from Monk. The ballad Pannonica undulates with smoky beauty, and the inventive Roach unleashes an imperious low-timpani sound under a sardonic Bemsha Swing. This is one of those must-have jazz albums.
