German pianist Schlippenbach is best known as one of the original architects of European free jazz, but he's also enjoyed a long and fruitful working relationship with the repertoire of Thelonious Monk. In 2005, his 3-CD set Monk's Casino, recorded in collaboration with the trio Die Enttäuschung, offered a comprehensive take on Monk's entire catalogue of compositions. But, clearly, Schlippenbach hasn't quite finished investigating the great man's work – hence these solo piano interpretations. Some of the renditions – such as the lumbering ‘Locomotive’ – stick more or less faithfully to Monk's original spirit, but Schlippenbach is unable to quell his much more fleet-fingered approach so that other pieces, such as ‘Work’, fly off into vertiginous runs. A series of interlarded free improvisations provide an extra glimpse of how much Monk's aesthetic has helped form Schlippenbach's own musical identity, as he revels in wry quirks and tics allied with an unmistakable central European bombast.