The impetus for the album was the discovery of three usable studio tracks recorded by the Monk Quartet with Coltrane in July 1957 at the beginning of the band's six-month residency at New York's legendary Five Spot club near Cooper Square.

[7] To round out the release, producer Keepnews included two outtakes from the Monk's Music album recorded the previous month, and one additional outtake from Thelonious Himself recorded in April.

[8] The original LP contained the first 6 tracks, and was reissued in 2000 on Fantasy Records as part of its series for back catalogue using the JVC 20-bit K2 coding system.

The take of "Monk's Mood" from Thelonious Himself was added as a bonus track to the 2000 reissue.

Because of the historical significance of this album it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.