Jon Batiste - Monk Meditations (Vinyl)

Standard Black Vinyl LP

Monk Meditations is Volume 3 of the Batiste Piano Series, issued by Verve Records on a single black LP, with eight solo piano pieces split four to a side. Verve's release notes frame it as a meditation sequence: Batiste strips Thelonious Monk's pieces down into new-age-inflected tracks, and the label calls it the first true meditation album inspired by Monk's music.

Three of the eight are Monk compositions: "Reflections," "Crepuscule With Nellie" and "Monk's Mood." The other five are credited to Batiste. They include "Enlightenment of Ruby," a new piece built on Monk's "Ruby, My Dear," and "Always Know," which opens side A, was the album's first single, and returns as a short outro to close side B.

The Monk connection goes back to Batiste's student years at Juilliard, when, by the label's account, he listened to Monk for a year straight. The influence is already audible on his 2006 set Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art. In the album notes he names Monk his favorite pianist of any style.

Verve released Monk Meditations on August 14, 2026, together with its companion Monk Movements (Volume 4), which takes the opposite route and recasts Monk standards as long-form contemporary classical works. Black Mozart (Volume 2, Decca Records US) arrived the same day. The series opened in 2024 with Beethoven Blues, which held No. 1 on Billboard's Classical Albums chart for five consecutive weeks and led Classical Crossover Albums for nine. Batiste's Grammy wins include Album of the Year for We Are and Best Americana Album for Big Money, and he shares an Academy Award with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the score to Pixar's Soul.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Always Know
2. Reflections
3. Eternity Around The Corner
4. Midnight Movement

Side B

1. Enlightenment of Ruby
2. Crepuscule With Nellie
3. Monk's Mood
4. Always Know - Outro

Complete the Collection (3)

• Black Mozart - Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 2
• Monk Movements