By the time this album was recorded in 1958, Lacy was already making his mark playing soprano saxophone exclusively and working with some of the most forward-looking musicians in jazz, like pianist Cecil Taylor and arranger Gil Evans. The group here consists of some of New York's most probing, younger players--pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Buell Neidlinger an associate from the Taylor group), and Elvin Jones, already a forceful presence on drums. The startling thing about this early venture into Monk's music, the first album by other musicians devoted to Monk, is that Lacy was already foregoing the better known tunes, concentrating on Monk repertoire that was seldom played outside the pianist's own groups. Lacy's spare, structurally conscious improvisation gets to the essence of Monk's music. --Stuart Broomer