Blue Note session · in the studio
May 30, 1952
The Thelonious Monk Sextet
In the room
- Thelonious Monk – piano
- Kenny Dorham – trumpet
- Lou Donaldson – alto sax
- Lucky Thompson – tenor sax
- Nelson Boyd – bass
- Max Roach – drums
The takes
5 of these 9 takes stayed in the vault at the time: alternates and tunes that weren't issued. Switch to hear only the ones that came out on the records.
What the numbers mean
BN308-2 is a matrix number: Blue Note gave every tune it recorded the next number in one running series (BN308 is "Humph"), and the figure after the dash is which take of that tune was kept. Early on the series starts each tune's takes at 0, so -0 is usually the first try.
tk. 5 is the take as counted through the whole day, from the first tune to the last: the way the studio's log and, from the mid-1950s, Rudy Van Gelder's tapes number them. Later dates have only these.
On the earliest records (1939–40) the numbers in the matrix place, like 486A-1 or GM535-6, are the masters' numbers from the studios and pressing plants Blue Note used before it had its own series.
| Matrix · take | Title | First out on |
|---|---|---|
| BN434-1 · tk. 2 | Skippy | 78 · 1602, BLP 1511 |
| BN434-2 · tk. 3 | Skippy (alternate take) | Not issued at the time · later on Mosaic MR4-101 |
| BN435-1 · tk. 5 | Hornin' In (alternate take) | Not issued at the time · later on Mosaic MR4-101 |
| BN435-3 · tk. 7 | Hornin' In | 78 · 1603, BLP 1511 |
| BN436-0 · tk. 8 | Sixteen | Not issued at the time · later on Mosaic MR4-101 |
| BN436-1 · tk. 9 | Sixteen (alternate take) | Not issued at the time · later on Mosaic MR4-101 |
| BN437-0 · tk. 10 | Carolina Moon | 78 · 1603, BLP 1511 |
| BN438-0 · tk. 11 | Let's Cool One | 78 · 1602, BLP 1511 |
| BN439-0 · tk. 12 | I'll Follow You | Not issued at the time · later on Mosaic MR4-101 |
Where it ended up
Together elsewhere
The other albums at least two of these players are on together.
2 of them 6 albums
| No. | Title | Leader | Year | Who | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | BLP 5055 | Lou Donaldson Sextet Vol. 2 · not on the site yet | Lou Donaldson Sextet | 1954 | Kenny Dorham, Lou Donaldson |
| PRLP 7023 | Trombone By Three | J J Johnson, Kai Winding, Benny Green | 1956 | Kenny Dorham, Max Roach | |
 | PRLP 7024 | Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, J.J. Johnson | Jay Jay Johnson's Boppers | 1956 | Nelson Boyd, Max Roach |
 | PRLP 7027 | Thelonious Monk | Thelonious Monk Trio | 1956 | Thelonious Monk, Max Roach |
 | BLP 1537 | Quartet/Quintet/Sextet | Lou Donaldson | 1957 | Kenny Dorham, Lou Donaldson |
| PRLP 7095 | Rollins Plays For Bird | Sonny Rollins Quintet With Kenny Dorham And Max Roach | 1957 | Kenny Dorham, Max Roach |