Thelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and contributed numerous jazz standards, including "Round Midnight," "Blue Monk," "Straight, No Chaser," "Ruby, My Dear," "In Walked Bud," and "Well, You Needn't." Monk is the second most recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.

Thelonious Himself, released in 1957, is a solo album by Thelonious Monk. The only exception is the final track, "Monk's Mood," on which he is accompanied by John Coltrane and Wilbur Ware. It was Monk's fourth album on Riverside and received the coveted 5 stars from DownBeat magazine. This new edition of the album has been released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series. The album was pressed on 180-gram vinyl by RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Coherent Audio and a Stoughton Tip-On jack.