Thelonious Monk Quartet: Monk's Dream

When Thelonious Monk released Monk’s Dream with The Thelonious Monk Quartet, it was viewed by critics as “a stunning reaffirmation of his powers as a performer and composer.” - Pete Welding. Anything less than a 5-star review was uncommon.

Monk’s Dream was Monk’s 6th studio album and 1st on the Columbia label. Known for his unique improvisational style, Monk made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire. Monk stands as the second-most-recorded jazz composer, giving the most recorded artist nod to none other than the great Duke Ellington.

Monk’s Dream remains one of the top jazz albums of all time. As such, it deserves audiophile respect, which Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs gave it in 2020 with this UltraDisc One-Step release. MOFI’s UltraDisc One-Step releases are composed of two 45rpm vinyl records pressed on ultra high quality virgin vinyl.

While they are not “true” analogue to vinyl pressings because of their Gain 2 Ultra Analog system, they are true audiophile pressings. The Gain 2 system incorporates a Direct Stream Digital recording process, which some believe excludes it from being classified as a true analogue tape to vinyl manufacturing process.

Regardless of the process, there is little doubt about the UltraDisc One-Step is a high quality process for transferring music to vinyl being a high quality system. However, we have found that the system tends to work better for some recordings than others. Jazz recordings, such as Monk’s Dream and Bill Evans Sunday At The Village Vanguard, tend to fair well in this system. Rock and pop recordings not so much.

TRACK LIST
1. Monk's Dream
2. Body and Soul
3. Bright Mississippi
4. Five Spot Blues
5. Bolivar Blues
6. Just a Gigolo
7. Bye-Ya
8. Sweet and Lovely

All that said, Monk’s Dream is a beautiful release. The dynamic range, presence, and depth are excellent. This release by Mobile Fidelity is clean, clear, precise, and every bit worth the investment! 💰

💰 Invest
 💵 Consider
💸 Pass