Despite various reissue formats over several decades, the seven original LPs contained in Thelonious Monk - The Riverside Tenor Sessions stood perfectly well on their own at the time of initial release and remain among the highest achievements of a truly golden age. Recorded and released between 1956 and 1961, these seven Monk combo albums were critical in Monk's emergence from a decade of ridicule and neglect to his status at the pinnacle of the jazz pantheon.
For Thelonious in Action, Monk recorded live at the Five Spot Café in the Bowery neighborhood of Manhattan on August 7, 1958, at the same sessions that produced Misterioso. One of New York's most celebrated jazz rooms, the Five Spot is where Monk first emerged into the spotlight. With him on this date was tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik. They created two highly memorable in-performance albums (of which this is the first) of classic Monk repertoire.