This audience-less Tokyo TV studio session was acquired by Candid in the 1990s and should not be confused with the ‘official’ CBS album Monk In Tokyo, recorded a couple of days earlier. The title is also potentially confusing, since bassist Warren had only just joined the quartet, staying nine months before eventually ceding to Larry Gales, while Dunlop was replaced at the start of 1964 by Ben Riley, whose partnership with Gales might be considered the classic version of Monk’s 1960s group.

As to the actual 38-minute performance, four out of five tracks are familiar originals from the pianist, with ‘Evidence’ showing Rouse more extrovert than on other occasions, while ‘Ba-lou Bolivar Ba-lues-are’ is faster than expected and ‘Blue Monk’ – on which Monk has an entertaining dialogue with Warren – slower than usual. An extended ‘Epistrophy’ shows him in musically aggressive mood, as does his solo exploration of ‘Just A Gigolo’. If you don’t already have much of Monk with Rouse, this is representative and revealing.