In a way I'm glad that my first exposure to Monk was to that later, slightly lesser period that many people sniff at, because I have such a soft spot for the sound of that quartet and therefore love practically all of his work. I didn't understand a note of what he was doing, but it resonated, right to the core. An obvious example is Monk's “Misterioso.” Two of the next TM LP's I got my hands on were the Riverside “Monk and Coltrane” and one of the Blue Notes, and I recognized these as being even better, but for a kid who wanted to determine whether this jazz stuff would work for me or not, that first exposure was decisive. I have tended then not to list many records in any given style, and in several cases don't consider the title listed to be the greatest by a particular musician. I've taken the “changed my life” part fairly literally, which means that I've generally included records that opened doors for me into ways of hearing I hadn't known (a “top 25” would be different). It's difficult to make this list so short at least 10 or 15 more titles could easily be added. Some of you see me on FB and may have already seen this, but don't worry - more posts are on the way. I aim to do more in this vein because I have been asked to do so by some of you. In any case, I thought I may as well post it here, since it might point people towards things they might like to hear. I did this many years ago, and the fact that I went into so much detail tells me that I was probably resting after a tour and didn't have the energy to do any 'real' work. If the title reads like something that was done for Facebook, that's because it is.

Soft sitar background music