Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10 1917–February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer.

Life and Career

Little is known about his early life. Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, his family moved to New York shortly thereafter. He began playing the piano at age 6, and while he had some formal training, Monk was essentially self-taught. He briefly toured with an evangelist in his teens, playing the church organ. He attended Stuyvesant High School, but did not graduate.

Related Topics:
Rocky Mount, North Carolina - Stuyvesant High School

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In his late teens he began to find work playing jazz; he is believed to be the pianist on some recordings Jerry Newman made around 1941 at Minton's Playhouse, the legendary Manhattan club where Monk had been hired as the house pianist. His style at the time is described as "hard-swinging", with the addition of runs in the style of Art Tatum. Monk's stated influences include Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and other early stride pianists.

Related Topics:
Jerry Newman - 1941 - Minton's Playhouse - Art Tatum - Duke Ellington - James P. Johnson - Stride pianists

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Monk's unique piano style was largely perfected during his stint as the house pianist at Minton's in the early-to-mid 1940s, when he particpated in the famous after-hours "cutting competitions" that featured most of the leading jazz solists of the day. The Minton's scene was crucial in the formulation of the bebop genre and it brought Monk into close contact and collaboration with other leading exponents of bebop including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson and John Coltrane.

Related Topics:
Bebop - Dizzy Gillespie - Charlie Parker - Miles Davis - Sonny Rollins - Milt Jackson - John Coltrane

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In 1944 Monk made his first studio recordings with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet. He made his first recordings as leader in 1947 and cut the debut LP, Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1, which showcased his talents as a composer of original melodies for improvisation. Monk married Nellie Smith the same year, and in 1949 the couple had a son, T.S. Monk, who later became a jazz drummer. A daughter, Barbara, was born in 1953.

Related Topics:
1944 - Coleman Hawkins - 1947 - 1949 - T.S. Monk - 1953

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In August 1951, New York City police searched a parked car occupied by Monk and friend Bud Powell. The police found narcotics in the car, presumed to have belonged to Powell. Monk refused to testify against his friend, so the police confiscated his New York City Cabaret Card. Without the all-important cabaret card he was unable to play in any New York venue where liquor was served, and this severely restricted his ability to perform for several crucial years. Monk spent most of the early and mid-1950s composing, recording, and performing at theaters and out of town gigs.

Related Topics:
1951 - Bud Powell - New York City Cabaret Card - 1950s

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Having recorded several times for Blue Note Records during 1947–52, he was under contract to Prestige Records between (1952–54), with whom he cut several under-recognised but highly significant recordings, including collaborations with saxophonist Sonny Rollins and drummer Art Blakey.

Related Topics:
Blue Note Records - 1947 - 52 - Prestige Records - 54 - Sonny Rollins - Art Blakey

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He signed to the Riverside Records label for the rest of the 1950s and his many Riverside recordings are now generally regarded as being among the most significant of his career, and which include his collaborations with rising tenor saxophone superstar John Coltrane.

Related Topics:
Riverside Records - John Coltrane

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When he signed with Riverside, Monk was highly rated by his peers and by some critics, but his records did not sell in significant numbers and his music was still regarded as being too "difficult" for mass market acceptance. Indeed, Riverside had managed to buy out his previous contract for a miserly $108.24. His breakthrough came thanks to a compromise between Monk and the label, who convinced him to record his interpretations of jazz standards.

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His debut for Riverside was a 'themed' record featuring Monk's distinctive interpretations of the music of his great idol Duke Ellington. The resulting LP, Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington helped to break Monk to a wider audience and paved the way for a broader acceptance of his unique style. The Ellington LP is now highly regarded both as one of the classic jazz piano trio records, and as one of the classic jazz "songbook" recordings.

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Although encouraged by its success, Riverside still demanded another LP of cover versions before it was prepared to risk releasing an LP of all-original Monk music. This was finally featured on his groundbreaking 1956 LP Brilliant Corners.

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In 1954, he paid his first visit to Europe, performing and recording in Paris. It was here that he first met Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, "Nica", member of the English branch of the Rothschild family and patroness of several New York City jazz musicians. She would be a close friend for the rest of his life.

Related Topics:
1954 - Europe - Paris - Pannonica de Koenigswarter - Rothschild family

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After having his cabaret card restored, Monk relaunched his New York career with a landmark six-month residency at the Five Spot Cafe in New York during 1957, leading a quintet that included John Coltrane on tenor soxophone; fortunately some of these now-legendary performances were captured on amateur recordings. On November 29 that year the quintet performed at Carnegie Hall and the concert was recorded in high fidelity by the Voice of America broadcasting service. The long-lost tape of that concert was rediscovered in the collection of the Library of Congress in January 2004.

Related Topics:
John Coltrane - Carnegie Hall - Voice of America - Library of Congress

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In 1958, Monk and de Koenigswarter were detained by police in Wilmington, Delaware. When Monk refused to answer the policemen's questions or cooperate with them, they beat him with a blackjack. Though the police were authorized to search the vehicle and found narcotics in suitcases held in the trunk of the Baroness's car, Judge Christie of the Delaware Superior Court ruled that the unlawful detention of the pair, and the beating of Monk, rendered the consent to the search void as given under duress. State v. De Koenigswarter, 177 A.2d 344 (Del. Super. 1962).

Related Topics:
1958 - Wilmington, Delaware - Blackjack

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In 1964, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine. By now he was signed to a major label, Columbia Records, and was promoted more widely than earlier in his career. Monk also had a regular working group, featuring the tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, but by now his work as a composer was quite limited.

Related Topics:
1964 - Time magazine - Columbia Records - Charlie Rouse

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He disappeared from the scene in the early 1970s and made only a small number of appearances during the final decade of his life. His last recording was completed in November 1971.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1971

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Monk's manner was idiosyncratic. It is said that he would rarely speak to anyone other than his beloved wife Nellie, and certainly in later years it was reported that he would go through an entire tour without speaking to the other members of his group. Visually, he was renowned for his distinctively "hip" sartorial style in suits, hats and sunglasses, and he developed an unusual, highly syncopated and percussive manner of playing piano. He was also noted for the fact that, at times, he would stop playing, stand up from the keyboard and dance while the other musicians in the combo played. There has been speculation that some of Monk's quirky behaviour was due to mental illness.

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However, while these anecdotes may typify Monk's behaviour in hs later life, it is worth noting that in Lewis Porter's biography of John Coltrane, the saxophonist reveals a very different side of Monk. Coltrane is quoted as saying that Monk was, in his opinion:

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"... exactly the opposite of Miles (Davis). He talks about music all the time. and wants so much for you to to understand that if, by chance, you ask him something, he'll spend hours if necessary to explain it to you."

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In the documentary film Straight, No Chaser (produced in 1989 by Clint Eastwood on the subject of Monk's life and music), Monk's son, T.S. Monk, reported that Monk was on several occasions hospitalized due to an unspecified mental illness that worsened in the late 1960s. No diagnosis was ever made public, but some have noted that Monk's symptoms suggest bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Whatever the precise diagnosis, anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that Monk was suffering from some form of pathological introversion (cf Syd Barrett) and that from the late Sixties he became increasingly uncommunicative and withdrawn. As his health declined, his last years were spent as a guest in the New Jersey home of his long-standing patron, Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, who had also nursed Charlie Parker during his final illness.

Related Topics:
Documentary - 1989 - Clint Eastwood - T.S. Monk - Mental illness - 1960s - Bipolar disorder - Schizophrenia - Syd Barrett - Charlie Parker

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He died in 1982 and was interred in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Following his death, his music has been rediscovered by a wider audience and he is now counted alongside the likes of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and others as a major figure in the history of jazz.

Related Topics:
Ferncliff Cemetery - Hartsdale, New York - Miles Davis - John Coltrane

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