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Drummer Ben Riley played with Thelonious Monk in one of the pianist/composer's finest bands, the indefatigable quartet of the mid-60s, and Riley has been one of Monk?s greatest advocates ever since, including this sparkling, joyous septet. Don Sickler wrote the arrangements for the band, devising an original approach to orchestrating Monk without a piano by combining guitar with his own trumpet and three saxophones, often to mimic Monk's original accompaniments. The resulting clarity highlights Riley's subtly propulsive drumming and a general fidelity to Monk's style of melodic improvisation, most notably by newcomer Wayne Escoffery on tenor. Along with some of Monk's best-known tunes ("Rhythm-A-Ning" and "Straight, No Chaser" stand out), the band offers fine versions of three witty and obscure gems that Monk wrote for a 1955 Gigi Gryce session: "Gallop?s Gallop," "Brake?s Sake," and "Shuffle Boil." They're evidence of Riley and Sickler's thoughtful and thorough appreciation of modern jazz's greatest composer. --Stuart Broomer