Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk
Atlantic Studios
New York, NY
May 14-15, 1957

Art Blakey, drums
Thelonious Monk, piano
Johnny Griffin, tenor saxophone
Bill Hardman, trumpet
Spanky DeBrest, bass

Source: Master tapes
Unknown lineage

Disc 1 = May 14, 1957
Disc 2 = May 15, 1957

Disc 1 (59:40)
01. <Studio intro> - 0:21
02. Blue Monk (take 1) - 0:10
03. Blue Monk (take 2) - 2:36
04. Blue Monk (take 3) - 0:50
05. Blue Monk (take 4) - 7:50
06. Blue Monk (take 5) - 1:42
07. Blue Monk (take 6) - 7:51
08. Blue Monk (take 7) - 1:26
09. Blue Monk (take 8) - 7:12
10. Blue Monk (take 9) - 7:11
11. Blue Monk (take 10) - 0:10 - ISSUED ALTERNATE TAKE - REMOVED
12. Evidence (take 2) - 0:29
13. Evidence (take 3) - 5:34
14. Evidence (take 4) - 0:09 - ISSUED ALTERNATE TAKE - REMOVED
15. Evidence (take 5) - 1:00
16. Evidence (false start) - 0:21
17. Evidence (take 7) - 6:06
18. Evidence (take 8) - 0:42
19. Evidence (take 10) - 1:25
20. Evidence (false start) - 0:14
21. Evidence (take 11) - 6:11

Disc 2 (23:44)
01. <Studio intro> - 0:10
02. I Mean You (take 1) - 0:14
03. I Mean You (take 2) - 1:21
04. I Mean You (take 3) - 0:07 - ISSUED ALTERNATE TAKE - REMOVED
05. I Mean You (false start) - 0:33
06. I Mean You (take 4) - 1:26
07. I Mean You (take 5) - 1:16
08. Evidence (take 1) - 0:23
09. Evidence (take 2) - 6:29
10. Evidence (take 3) - 1:03
11. Evidence (take 4) - 6:58
12. Evidence (take 5) - 0:25
13. <Studio intro> - 0:10
14. Blue Monk (take 1) - 0:46
15. Blue Monk (take 2) - 0:40
16. Blue Monk (take 3) - 0:48
17. Blue Monk (take 4) - 0:47

Total time = 1 hour 23 minutes 24 seconds

Notes:
- According to the CD liner notes, "I Mean You" was recorded on May 14. However, Robin D.G. Kelley's Monk biography states the band attempted only two songs on May 14 ("Blue Monk" and "Evidence");
- Some take numbers are my designation, not the recording engineer's, but I generally follow the number identified before the track. Additionally, during the May 14 session, the recording engineer--Earl Brown, I assume--loses track of the take number and says "take 6" a second time. One might assume that during a frustrating studio session (Wilbur Ware showed up drunk and was replaced by DeBrest, plus Griffin and Hardman were struggling with the music) the engineer lost track of where they were at; and
- For the official tracks, I have removed the music and left the studio chatter that follows (which was NOT on the Atlantic Records official release).