The main album, whose cover-photo of Monk on a local streetcar is reproduced on this public-domain reissue, was done in 1959 at the same time as Riverside's famous In San Francisco by Cannonball Adderley. Compared to that exciting and populist affair, this is a personal and introspective recital which doesn't raise the temperature but gets close to the heart of Monk's style. The breakdown of the contents is already revealing, in that there are no fewer than three blues in B-flat, including a sprightly ‘Blue Monk’, the largely chordal theme of ‘Round Lights’ and the slow-medium ‘Bluehawk’ (whose title hints at the club where the pianist was appearing with Charlie Rouse and a local rhythm-section). Then, alongside three of his own best ballads, Monk addresses four songbook items, two of them familiar standards (‘Everything Happens To Me’, at 5'40” the longest track, and Irving Berlin's ‘Remember’) plus two obscurities – ‘You Took The Words Right Out Of My Heart’ (memorably revisited 36 years laterby the Paul Motian trio) and ‘There's Danger In Your Eyes, Cherie’, a minor slip in the latter occasioning the only retake. The bonus material is both earlier and later, including four slightly throwaway solos from the 1961 quartet's European tour, also originally issued on Riverside. The early set is less easily found elsewhere, being Monk's trio appearance at the 1958 Newport festival, with the bass solo that was cut out for Jazz On A Summer's Day being restored and with theboat-race comments safely removed. All of this well-recorded programme illustrates the pianist's thoughtful approach and, even when not always premeditated, his still radical voicings remain idiosyncratic and inimitable. For all his eventually wide and beneficial influence, there was only one Monk.