Thelonious Monk Paris 1969, is a fascinating and important late-career document of the legendary jazz pianist and composer in performance with his Quartet at the Salle Pleyel concert hall in Paris, France on December 15, 1969.

“The 1969 Paris concert captures the power and the undiminished beauty of Monk’s music, reminding us that even as his body aged his musical imagination knew no limits,” writes Monk scholar Robin Kelley in his liner notes essay.

Monk eventually found two young musicians – bassist Nate Hygelund and drummer Paris Wright – to fill out the Quartet with his longtime tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse. Luckily the inexperienced rhythm section had some time to gel before hitting the stage in Paris with a lengthy engagement in London followed by stops in Germany and Italy. By the time they reached the Pleyel the band was in fine form, which made for a triumphant return for Monk to the very stage he had made his Parisian debut on in 1954 in front of a hostile audience who felt that Monk was too avant-garde. 15 years later the situation could not have been more different with an enthusiastic audience and the concert being broadcast on television.