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ABC Jazz Home > Just Played > Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Biography
Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer considered one of the giants of American music. Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser" and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second most recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington, which is particularly remarkable as Ellington composed over 1,000 songs while Monk wrote about 70. His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are consistent with Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations. This was not a style universally appreciated; poet and jazz critic Philip Larkin dismissed Monk as 'the elephant on the keyboard'. Monk's manner was idiosyncratic. Visually, he was renowned for his distinctive style in suits, hats and sunglasses. He was also noted for the fact that at times, while the other musicians in the band continued playing, he would stop, stand up from the keyboard and dance for a few moments before returning to the piano. He is one of five jazz musicians to have been featured on the cover of Time as of 2010.
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Discography
- Thelonious in Action, 1958
- Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, 1996
- Underground, 1968
- The Very Best, 2005
- Live at the Five Spot Discovery! (feat. John Coltrane), 1993
- Live at Monterey Jazz Festival, '63, Volume 1
- Monk Alone: The Complete Columbia Solo Piano Recordings 1962-1968 (disc 1), 1998
- Ruby, My Dear / Evidence, 1947
- A Jazz Hour With Thelonious Monk: Blue Monk, 1996
- Monk., 1965
- The Composer
- Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, 2006
- The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk, 1983
- The Essential
- Alhambra, Volume 1 (live in Paris, 2/22/64)
- Ask Me Now / Willow Weep for Me, 1951
- Monk 'Round the World, 2004
- The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall, 2000
- Piano Solo, 1993
- Evidence (Paris 1963-1966 Archives INA), 1987
- Big Band and Quartet in Concert, 1994
- The Complete Prestige Recordings, 2000
- Thelonious Monk Trio, 1996
- San Francisco Holiday
- Mulligan Meets Monk, 1991
- Genius of Modern Music
- Monk's Music [Original Jazz Classics Remasters], 2011
- Straight No Chaser, 1989
- Monk, 1954
- Thelonious Monk
- Solo Monk
- Something in Blue, 1971
- Thelonious Monk and the Jazz Giants, 1991
- Greatest Hits, 1997
- The Nonet-Live!, 1993
- Ken Burns Jazz: Thelonious Monk, 2000
- Jazz Masters: From Original Recordings, 1992
- Olympia, May 23, 1965
- Hackensack
- Brilliant Corners, 2006
- 85th Birthday Celebration, 2002
- Thelonious Himself, 1959
- Thelonious Alone in San Francisco [Original Jazz Classics Remasters], 2011
- Straight, No Chaser, 1967
- Live at the Jazz Workshop, 2001
- More Genius of Thelonious Monk
- A Proper Introduction to Thelonious Monk: Trinkle, Tinkle, 2004
- Thelonius Monk / Sonny Rollins, 2006
- Genius of Modern Music, Volume Two, 2001
- Monk's Blues, 1988
- The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings With John Coltrane, 2006
- Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk, 1999
- Complete Studio Recordings - Master Takes, 2008
- Off Minor
- Misterioso, 2002
- Ruby My Dear
- Monk in France
- Genius of Modern Music, Volume 2, 1956
- The Blue Note Years: The Best of Thelonious Monk, 1991
- Criss-Cross, 2003
- Blues Five Spot, 1984
- Live at the It Club
- Thelonious Monk Live in Paris, Volume 3
- Four Classic Albums, 2008
- 1962 - 1968, 1996
- Miles & Monk at Newport, 1964
- Thelonious Monk Masters of Jazz cd2
- Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall, 2005
- Genius of Modern Music, Volume 1, 2001
- Alone in San Francisco, 2006
- The London Collection, Volume 2
- The Unique Thelonious Monk, 1956
- Monkism
- 'Round Midnight and Other Jazz Classics, 1995
- Monk's Greatest Hits, 1997
- Monk: On Tour in Europe, 1988
- Criss‐Cross, 1993
- Blue Monk, 1999
- In Copenhagen
- Forever
- 1969-11-07: Jazztage Berlin, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany
- Live at the Village Gate, 2002
- Riffin'
- The First European Concert '61
- This Is Jazz 5, 1996
- 5 by Monk by 5, 2007
- The Columbia Years: '62-'68, 2004
- Quadromania
- Monk In Paris - Live At The Olympia 1965-03-07, 2003
- Monk's Music, 2006
- It's Monk's Time, 2003
- I Like Jazz: The Essence of Thelonious Monk
- Live at Newport 1958 & 1963, 1994
- Paris at Midnight, 1967
- With Thelonious Monk, 1958
- Monk Alone: The Complete Columbia Solo Piano Recordings 1962-1968 (disc 2), 1998
- The Chronological Classics: Thelonious Monk 1947-1948
- 'Round Midnight
- Monk, Alone in Paris, 2008
- At the Blackhawk, 2007
- The Essential Thelonious Monk, 1991
- In Italy, 2007
- Thelonious Monk & Joe Turner in Paris
- Jazz Moods: 'Round Midnight, 2004
- Thelonious Monk and Milt Jackson, 1985
- Thelonious Alone in San Francisco
- Live a la Casa
- Complete Blue Note Recordings, 1994
- Midnite Jazz & Blues: Blue Monk, 2000
- Evidence, 2000
- The Chronological Classics: Thelonious Monk 1951-1952
- The London Collection, Volume 1, 1999
- The Complete Black Lion and Vogue Recordings of Thelonious Monk, 1985
- Blue Note Years (1945-1955)
- Jazz Profile, 1998
- Monk in Amsterdam
- Midnight Moods, 2005
- Live at Monterey Jazz Festival, '63, Volume 2, 1994
- Live at the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival, 2005
- The Best of Thelonious Monk, 2004
- We See, 2005
- Live in Stockholm 1961 (disc 2), 1961
- Monk in Tokyo, 2001
- 1963 In Japan
- Thelonious Monk Live in Paris, Volume 1
- The Classic Quartet, 2006
- Round About Monk
- At Newport 1963 & 1965, 2002
- After Hours at Minton's, 2001
- 1963-03-05: Stockholm, Sweden
- The Complete Riverside Recordings, 1986
- Monk Trane, 1973
- Thelonious Monk live in Paris - volume 2, 2002
- Coleção Folha clássicos do jazz, Volume 8, 2007
- The Measure of Monk, 2007
- Skippy / Let's Cool One, 1952
- The Thelonious Monk Memorial Album, 1989
- The Finest in Jazz, 2007
- A Jazz Hour With Thelonious Monk, Volume 2: Epistrophy, 1993
- The London Collection, Volume 3, 2003
- The Art of the Ballad
- Eight Classic Albums
- Standards
- Live in Stockholm 1961, 1961
This entry is automatically sourced from Musicbrainz , the public domain music
database. Visit the
Thelonious Monk page on Musicbrainz to correct or update this entry.
Any changes made to the article will not be immediately
available here. The ABC is not responsible for the content of
external sites.
Recently Played on ABC Jazz.
| Song | I Surrender Dear |
| Artist | Thelonious Monk |
| Album | Brilliant Corners |
| Label | Keep News |
| Year | 1956 |
| Song | Crepuscule With Nellie |
| Artist | Thelonious Monk |
| Album | Criss-Cross |
| Label | Sony/Legacy |
| Year | 1963 |
| Song | Nutty |
| Artist | Thelonious Monk |
| Album | Complete Prestige Recordings |
| Label | Prestige Records |
| Year | 1944 |
| Song | In Walked Bud |
| Artist | Thelonious Monk |
| Album | The Complete Blue Note Recordings CD1 |
| Label | Blue Note |
| Year | 1947 |
| Song | Straight, No Chaser |
| Artist | Thelonious Monk |
| Album | Thelonious Monk Greatest Hits |
| Label | Columbia |
| Year | 1966 |
Media
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- YouTube THELONIOUS MONK Blue Monk 10:12
- YouTube Thelonious Monk Round Midnight 1966 6:29
- YouTube Thelonious Monk 2:27
- YouTube Thelonious Monk Round About Midnight 2:58
- YouTube Thelonious Monk Monks Dream 6:33
More Thelonious Monk on YouTube
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Links
Artist Website
On the ABC
- Listening Highlights: In Performance: Sydney Symphony & Lalo ...
- RN Into The Music - 23 September 2006 - 1956
- Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane + The Planet + 30 ...
- The Planet - 30 January 2006 - Thelonious Monk Quartet with ...
- DIG Internet Radio - News - Jazz Heros on ABC2
- DIG Digital Radio - World's Fastest Saxophonist Dies
- The Music Show - 10 July 2004 - Steve Lacy
- Radio National - Nocturne 19/10/2003
- Radio National - Nocturne 25/04/2004
- Thursday 6th July 2000 {Roy Haynes Trio} + The Planet + 6/07/2000
Elsewhere on the Web
- Thelonious Monk Biography - Yahoo! Music
- Thelonious Monk News - The New York Times
- Thelonious Monk Albums - Yahoo! Music
Links suggested here are generated automatically. The ABC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Page created on Jun 26, 2009. 1:32am and updated on May 18, 2012. 5:50pm.
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Comments
Monk remains to jazz what Van Gogh is to art - a true individual. A wonderful yet quirky composer - one of the greatest in the USA - who almost broke our hearts with "Round About Midnight" and smirk cheerfully with "Epistrophy". It's hard to imagine an experimenting modernist like Monk admiring James P.Johnson for example, but that was our Thelonious.
So much about 'The Sphere' epitomised jazz, from his zany hats, habit of dancing around the piano and some of those adorable iconic album covers! Great recommendation.
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