It would be a real shame if Shorter had opposed the release. In fact, at least part of the so-called “Because” session had already leaked as bootlegs, and from what I understand, it's quite good. Barbara Burton's vibes are surprisingly good, and McCoy Tyner is good too. I can understand why Shorter “at the time” was reluctant to release it. It feels more like a prequel than a sequel to Odyssey of Iska (or Weather Report), and it's “jazzier.” But listening to it now, it's at least a valuable relic of the past.

https://notat.io/download/file.php?id=3399 Facsimile of Monk's Mood. Chord symbols written in black, squeezed in afterwards, likely by someone else.

There is a scene from a Columbia recording session in the Straight No Chaser documentary where Rouse asks whether the chords he just makes up are correct. So obviously there were no chord symbols on the sheet. I must have some facsimile of a Monk sheet somewhere without chords. I will look for it. To me it makes sense. Monk wanted improvisation on the tune, not the chord changes, and he himself played just like that. If so, he wouldn't have needed to notate changes.

According to the liner notes from the Mosaic box, the problems with the "Meet Me At The Jazz Corner Of The World" tapes are baked in: Although all of the sessions in this collection were recorded by the extraordinary Rudy Van Gelder, there are sonic problems on two sessions. The drums were recorded very ‘hot’ on the March 14, 1961 session and sound at times on the threshold of distortion. On the live Birdland date, there is a vibrating, fluttering distortion that takes place intermittently in the horns and sometimes the entire ensemble. These problems exist on the original master tapes. They have been corrected as much as possible, but are still aurally present.