[5] On some of its re-releases, Robertson notes Thelonious Monk Trio had a track listing order different from the original.

[8] Fellow AllMusic contributor Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. called its music "intimate, intense, and inspired ... 35 minutes of professional musicians practicing their craft", and wrote that, although they were "pieced together from three different sessions," the recordings' "small settings ... allow the necessary space for Monk's explorations, which conjure up images of a mathematician working out geometric patterns on the keyboard.

"[9] BBC Music's Charles de Ledesma remarked that "the various personnel make little difference to the overall effect – Monk throughout offers a sumptuous flow of melody, punctuation, nuance and charm.

"[6] Sputnikmusic's Alex Robertson said that "even when Monk gets nutty, as on the brutally virtuosic 'Trinkle, Tinkle,' the album's appeal lies not in his 'sabotage' of popular music but his ability to turn it into something invigoratingly weird, two approaches often conflated when looking back on the work of an inventive musician.

"[3] In MSN Music, Christgau said the record offers "the not so common chance to hear Monk as a solely featured soloist with a rhythm section", with drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach performing like "co-stars".