"Bright Mississippi" is the only composition on the album that Monk had not previously recorded.

"Bolivar Blues" was originally titled "Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are" and had been on Monk's 1957 Riverside album, Brilliant Corners.

[3] "Monk's Dream",[4] "Bye-Ya",[5] and "Sweet and Lovely" were recorded for Prestige at a session ten years earlier.

In DownBeat, jazz critic Pete Welding gave the album five stars and called it "a stunning reaffirmation of his powers as a performer and composer.

"[6] All tracks are written by Thelonious Monk except where noted