When, in 1959, Charlie Rouse took over the tenor sax chair in Thelonious Monk's Quartet, it could have turned out to be a poisoned chalice, the position having previously been the domain of Johnny Griffin and John Coltrane. But as events turned out Rouse remained until 1970. During this period, he not only recorded close to two-dozen albums with Monk but also a number under his own leadership. Though Rouse's name seldom appears in the pantheon of great tenor sax stylists it can't be ignored that he was an integral part of one of the most fêted small groups in post-war modern jazz. Yet, in many aspects – most notably his tone – he showed an affinity to players more of the same school that spawned Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins when it came to ballads of the calibre of ‘You Don't Know What Love Is’, ‘(There Is) No Greater Love’ or ‘I Should Care’. Because of the times in which such albums were recorded, there was much duplication of personnel (Blue Mitchell. Curtis Fuller, Walter Bishop Jr) to the point where there was a tendency for sameness to become quite noticeable. This is not intended as a put-down, just an undeniable statement of fact. Finally, a bit of trivia: in 1999 the asteroid 10426 Charlierouse was officially named in honour of Charlie Rouse.