Songs from 1944 to 1957
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk writes these seven tunes between 1944 and 1957, starting in his early years at Minton's Playhouse in New York. Monk records every one of them himself, and other players take them up in clubs, on solo piano, with words added and on whole albums of his music. This page follows them decade by decade, from Cootie Williams and Dizzy Gillespie in the 1940s to Emmet Cohen in 2025.
Through the years
- 1940s
Monk writes Well You Needn't and 'Round Midnight in 1944, Ruby, My Dear around 1945 and In Walked Bud in 1947. Cootie Williams's orchestra makes the first recording of 'Round Midnight in 1944, and Dizzy Gillespie's sextet records it in 1946. Monk records all four tunes for Blue Note in 1947, in trios and a quintet.
- 1950s
Monk writes Straight, No Chaser in 1951, Blue Monk in 1954 and Rhythm-a-Ning in 1957. In 1957 he records with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Gerry Mulligan and John Coltrane, plays the Five Spot with Johnny Griffin in 1958, and in 1959 plays alone in a hall with no audience. Miles Davis's quintet record of 'Round Midnight in 1956 introduces the tune to much of the jazz public.
Thelonious Monk Quintet Straight, No Chaser · 1951Thelonious Monk Trio Blue Monk · 1954Miles Davis Quintet 'Round Midnight · 1956Kenny Drew Trio Ruby, My Dear · 1956The Miles Davis Quintet Well You Needn't · 1956Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk Blue Monk · 1957Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk In Walked Bud · 1957Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk Rhythm-a-Ning · 195711 more
Thelonious Monk and Gerry Mulligan Rhythm-a-Ning · 1957Thelonious Monk 'Round Midnight · 1957Thelonious Monk Quartet Ruby, My Dear · 1957Wes Montgomery Straight, No Chaser · 1957Thelonious Monk Quartet with Johnny Griffin In Walked Bud · 1958Miles Davis Straight, No Chaser · 1958Thelonious Monk Blue Monk · 1959Wes Montgomery Trio 'Round Midnight · 1959Thelonious Monk Ruby, My Dear · 1959Wes Montgomery and the Eddie Higgins Trio Ruby, My Dear · 1959Kenny Burrell Trio Well You Needn't · 1959 - 1960s
Monk's quartet records Rhythm-a-Ning for Columbia in 1962, and with Charlie Rouse plays Straight, No Chaser live in Los Angeles in 1964 and Well You Needn't at Brandeis University in 1965. Abbey Lincoln sings her own lyric to Blue Monk in 1961. Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis open an album of Monk tunes with In Walked Bud that year, and Jon Hendricks sings his own lyric to it on Monk's Underground in 1968.
Art Pepper Quintet Rhythm-a-Ning · 1960Abbey Lincoln Blue Monk · 1961The Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Quintet In Walked Bud · 1961The Cannonball Adderley Quintet Well You Needn't · 1961Thelonious Monk Quartet Rhythm-a-Ning · 1962Phineas Newborn Jr. Trio Well You Needn't · 1962Thelonious Monk Quartet Blue Monk · 1964Thelonious Monk Quartet Straight, No Chaser · 1964 - 1970s
Dexter Gordon plays Monk's tunes throughout the decade. He plays Rhythm-a-Ning in New York in 1970, gives 'Round Midnight a long live reading at his Village Vanguard return in 1976 with Woody Shaw on trumpet, and plays Ruby, My Dear in New York in 1978. Kenny Drew, who recorded Ruby, My Dear in 1956, returns to it in 1977 with bass and drums.
- 1980s
Ray Bryant's piano trio records In Walked Bud in 1980, Chick Corea's trio plays Rhythm-a-Ning in 1981 with no horns, and Kenny Barron's trio plays Straight, No Chaser in 1983. The 1985 film Round Midnight brings 'Round Midnight to the screen, with Dexter Gordon recording it during the shoot. In 1988 Carmen McRae sings Monk's tunes with words and new titles, such as Dear Ruby and Get It Straight.
Ray Bryant Trio In Walked Bud · 1980Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes Rhythm-a-Ning · 1981Kenny Barron Trio Straight, No Chaser · 1983Dexter Gordon 'Round Midnight · 1985Carmen McRae Blue Monk · 1988Carmen McRae Rhythm-a-Ning · 1988Carmen McRae 'Round Midnight · 1988Carmen McRae Ruby, My Dear · 1988 - 1990s
Kenny Barron plays Well You Needn't at Maybeck Recital Hall in Berkeley in December 1990, and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, a Swedish piano trio, records Rhythm-a-Ning for Swedish Radio in January 1996. Fred Hersch and Bill Frisell play Blue Monk as a piano and guitar duo in 1997, and Keith Jarrett's trio plays 'Round Midnight on the live double album Whisper Not, recorded in Paris.
- 2000s
Guitarist Bobby Broom records the album Bobby Broom Plays for Monk in January 2009, with Dennis Carroll on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums. It takes In Walked Bud and Rhythm-a-Ning to a guitar trio.
- 2010s
Duos and trios carry the tunes. Kenny Barron and Dave Holland record In Walked Bud as a piano and bass duo in 2014, and Brian Landrus and Fred Hersch close the album For Now with Ruby, My Dear in 2019. Chick Corea's trio plays Blue Monk live in 2013, and Joey Alexander's trio plays Straight, No Chaser at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2017, the year of Monk's hundredth birthday.
- 2020s
Emmet Cohen records Well You Needn't in 2025 with Ron Carter, Jeremy Pelt and Joe Farnsworth, for an album marking the 2026 centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Jon Batiste records In Walked Bud for an album of Monk tunes with an August 2026 release.