Yes, so many years spent listening! Not too many people on the board have seen Jack Teagarden, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Rushing, Ben Webster, Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons, Roland Kirk, Paul Desmond . . . .
Some years ago I met a member of this orchestra who told me that they were originally called the Shades of Kenton Orchestra, but had to abandon mention of Kenton following threat of legal action by the great man's widow. (I can't vouch for the truth of his story.)😙
Yes, i've always been partial to solo Monk.
Probably the first I heard was this French 10" disc:
But my favorite solo track is "Functional" from this album, where Monk and traditional piano blues (for which I'm also an enthusiast and even something of a practitioner) meet: