The EJC label is well named in this case, although the contents render redundant an earlier CD of Monk’s first two Riverside albums (well almost, since the two solo tracks from them plus the Prestige ‘Just A Gigolo’, are omitted here – because they’re not trios). This is important music and, with the passage of time, it becomes more evident that Monk was essentially a pianist, leaving horn-players the task of replicating his piano rather than writing anything specifically for them. Combining all the non-horn Blue Note and Prestige material (including four standards) with the Riversides makes this invaluable. The live Columbia box is harder going, partly because the solos are always in the same order, including loooong bass and drums spots of less than Pettiford-Blakey standard (even where these were edited out for their original release). I could listen to Monk himself all day, but nearly everything here is quartet material (from Japan, The It Club, The Jazz Workshop and Newport), which means an awful lot of Charlie Rouse. Light relief by Thad Jones and Phil Woods (Lincoln Centre 1963) or Griffin (from the 1967 Straight, No Chaser soundtrack) is not enough to make my day.