condition (record/cover): NM / NM  (in shrink)

Obi and insert included.

The 1963 Columbia debut: Thelonious Monk's working quartet with Charlie Rouse at cruising altitude, swinging the book with total confidence for the biggest label of his career. The Columbia years sometimes get patronized as the comfortable period - a mistake. Listen to the title track, to "Bright Mississippi", to the solo "Just a Gigolo": the strangeness is fully intact, simply delivered with the authority of a man finally being paid properly for it. Rouse, so long underrated, fits Monk's music like a key fits its lock. Major-label treatment without one ounce of compromise. Japanese CBS/Sony pressing, beautifully quiet.