This LP helped to reinvent Monk's reputation, showing listeners that Monk was not just a "mad genius" but a structured and well-rounded musician with the ability to lucidly interpret and reinvent the works of another composer.
Even though Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins had both been well-known jazzmen since the early 1920s, it wasn't until 1962 - at least 20 years after Duke first suggested it - that these two recorded their only session together.