Monk is on superior form in each of these original albums, namely The Unique T.M. (with Pettiford and Blakey), the famous At Town Hall, and 5 By Monk By 5 with a quintet featuring Rouse and Thad Jones. Compared to more routine material from the 1960s, this is a reminder of how energetic and inventive Monk was, when he was just approaching wider public acceptance. In particular, the opening trio album has his reharmonised versions of ‘Tea For Two’ and ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ (the former, though appearing on record for the first time, had already provided the chord-sequence for Monk's 1952 recording, ‘Skippy’). The ‘big-band’ concert, while undoubtedly an ‘event’, is a mixed bag but a definite highlight is its orchestration of the pianist's recorded choruses on ‘Little Rootie Tootie’. But the sleeper might be the quintet with Rouse (new in the job and still sounding enthusiastic) and the oblique Jones, using the same rhythm-section as At Town Hall. The ‘plus’ content consists of the 1958 Newport trio set with Grimes and Haynes (as seen in Jazz On A Summer's Day), complete with announcements by Willis Conover. Fortunately, the reissue audio is presentable, if a bit toppy, while the Newport set sounds far clearer than on a previous CD release (Jazzwise 127) although that makes the slight flutter on the tapes more discernible.