Monk is my personal favorite jazz pianist.  I always felt like the piano sounded like a slightly different instrument when played by him.  I could swear he found notes that other musicians had not yet discovered.  Or maybe he was just using a piano with more than 88 keys.  This is a fantastic collection of some of his most loved work from his early days with Prestige.  It’s an incredible listening experience to hear all these Monk originals performed with the special Monk touch.  And you will hear him accompanied by some of the greatest jazzmen ever, including Art Blakey and Max Roach on drums, and Percy Heath on bass.  This is a collection of Monk performances at his best.  The entire set was engineered by legendary Rudy Van Gelder.  The album was released on Prestige in 1959, number PRLP-7159.  This is a remastered reissue of the album originally released in 1956.  The vinyl is in exceptional condition with its bright original luster and just a few very light surface scratches that do not significantly impact play.  It plays beautifully with just very light background noise throughout.  The vinyl grades VG.  The album cover shows ring wear on the back and just some light corner and edge wear including a thin two inch split in the middle of the spine.   There is some discoloration and a stain on the back.  The cover grades VG. 

Track List: 
Blue Monk
Just A Gigolo
Bemsha Swing
Reflections

Little Rootie Tootie
Sweet And Lovely
Bye-Ya
Monk’s Dream
Trinkle Tinkle
These Foolish Things

Grading Information I always clean and then listen to every record I list on eBay.  I do this to make sure I can give as accurate a description of each record as possible.  I will do both a visual check and an audio check.  I absolutely attempt to give as objective a grading as I can.  I don’t ever want you to be disappointed in the quality of the album you receive.   My promise is that I will never put up for auction any album that I would not be proud to play for others on my own turntable. 

I only use four grades in my grading:  NM, VG+, VG, and G.  The only exception is a sealed album which is presumed to have vinyl in mint condition.  My NM grading means that the vinyl looks and plays as though it is the first time out of the sleeve.  The VG+ rating is used on any album that plays great but has one or two small defects.  It may have a pop here and there or some occasional background static.  On a VG album you can expect that, typically, this album will play great, but you’ll see more defects on this than your VG+ rated album.   Most often the VG rated album may even play well enough to be graded VG+, but the color or blemishes drop the grading.  Likewise, you may occasionally find an album that looks almost NM but the sound quality just isn’t there.  That’s why I play every album first, because this does happen.  In this case the vinyl will be graded VG.  Very occasionally I will list an album with a grade of G.  This is one where I consider the collectible value of the album to be great enough that the copy being presented is worth having as a filler copy. 

Shipping Information – Combined Shipping Shipping is $4.00 in the continental U.S.  In addition, I will happily combine records from multiple auctions to reduce total shipping cost.  In fact, I welcome it!  Shipping will be $4.00 in the U.S regardless of the number of auctions won in any 5-day period. 

Canada shipping is calculated based on weight using US Postal Service rates.  Combined shipping is also welcomed here and does result in significant per-album cost savings. Canada shipping rates have gone up dramatically. The first album will be shipped for $15.  Additional albums will be shipped for $4 per album, with up to five albums able to be shipped before we need to use International Priority shipping.  At that point we will work together on final determination of shipping cost. 

The Canada cost determination also applies for all other International shipping, except that the first album is shipped for $21 and each subsequent is just an additional $5.00. 

All albums will be shipped in specially designed album hard cardboard mailers with a cardboard insert to prevent damage upon opening.  The vinyl is removed from the cover and presented in a new poly sleeve.  I am committed to one day turnaround on shipments.  If I receive payment before 7:00 AM Central Time I will package and ship that same day.  Payment by PayPal is preferred. 

Thank you for looking and please contact me with any questions.