O’Higgins’ love for Monk knows no bounds. As if touring with Rob Luft in 2019 when they played the whole Monk repertoire wasn’t enough (along with their splendid release O’Higgins and Luft Play Monk and Trane) O’Higgins returns with a whole new take on the Maestro.

It’s a generalisation to say Monk and Trane revamped the music for modern ears but Luft’s whirling innovation and electronics was always going to add a 21st century patina. But with Monkin’ Around, O’Higgins goes deeper, less flourishes, but more intimate in acoustic detail.

Essentially a trio release, there’s also space on 4 In 1 for Fyfe’s chordal richness, while Shaw’s glistening horn occasionally complements O’Higgins. So, there are four formats at play, the trio, two different quartets and a quintet: and hence the album title echoing Monk’s tune of the same name, ‘Four in One’.

This mixture of line-ups adds variety, but it also points up the intimacy of the trio tracks. Played live in the studio and reflecting O’Higgins’ passion for that classic Rudi Van Gelder sound, the trio is at once vulnerable and fragile yet even more powerful for being unadorned. Slower cuts like the eternal ‘Pannonica’, with its stripped back allure, glow and shift around O’Higgins' meditation, never over blown but always questioning. By contrast the upbeat ‘Nawlins stomp of ‘Green Chimneys’ is both mischievous and sharp. Monk is the gift that can’t stop giving. And nor can O’Higgins.