Thelonious Monk's final studio recordings took place in London in 1971, including solos and a trio with bassist Al McKibbon and his long-time associate drummer Art Blakey. The solo tracks include the still joyously skewed stride of "Trinkle Tinkle," while Monk is both authoritative and witty in the trio renditions of "Hackensack" and "Evidence." The most remarkable track is "Chordially," a nearly 10-minute tape of Monk warming up at the piano, testing chord changes and voicings and revealing, at the end of his career, his creative processes in embryo. --Stuart Broomer