The centerpiece of any Monk tribute, this is the most widely recorded jazz composition ever written, and the quartet treats it with appropriate reverence. At an extremely slow 39 BPM, the twelve-minute performance unfolds with patience, allowing every note of Monk's distinctive chromatic melody to resonate. The solo section is remarkably restrained — all three soloists take just half a chorus each, with Chmielinski on bass going first, followed by Feifke on piano, then Lefkowitz-Brown on tenor saxophone. The brevity of the solos suggests an arrangement focused on collective ensemble playing, rubato passages, and atmospheric exploration rather than extended individual statements. Monk composed the piece in the early 1940s, and it became his signature tune through recordings by Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, whose 1956 Prestige recording helped establish it as a jazz standard. Positioned at the center of the six-tune program between two fast swingers, the ballad serves as the set's emotional core before the energy builds again with Straight, No Chaser.
