Thelonious Monk
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Thelonious Monk is the most acclaimed and controversial jazz improviser of the late 50's. He is widely accepted as a genuine master of American music. His compositions constitute the core of jazz repertory and are performed by artists from many different genres. One of his unforgettable recordings is, In Paris.
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About
Thelonious Monk or "Thelonious Sphere Monk" in real life was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina of "Thelonious Monk" and "Barbara Monk". His family moved to New York shortly thereafter. The first music he heard was from a player piano that his family owned. Monk's father became ill soon afterward and returned to the South, leaving the boy's mother to raise him and his brother and sister by herself. In his early teens, he used to play in rent parties, sitting in on organ and piano at a local Baptist church, and won several amateur competitions at the Apollo Theater.
He attended Stuyvesant High School, but dropped out at the end of his sophomore year to pursue music and around 1935 took a job as a pianist for a traveling evangelist and faith healer. After two years, he formed his own quartet and played local bars and small clubs until the spring of 1941, when drummer Kenny Clarke hired him as the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. In 1944, Thelonious made his first studio recordings with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet. In the same year, his well-known tune Round about Midnight was recorded by Cootie Williams, who collaborated with him in its composition.
He made his first recordings as leader in 1947 and cut the debut LP Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1. . In 1951, he was arrested with Bud Powell on a questionable charge of narcotics possession. Thelonious refused to testify against his friend, so the police took his Cabaret card. Without it he was unable to play in New York venues where liquor was served.
Thelonious spent most of the early and mid-1950s composing, recording, and performing at theaters and out of town gigs. In 1952, Thelonious acquired a contract from Prestige Records, with which he remained associated for three years and then Riverside Records for the rest of the 1950s. In June 1954, he made his first solo album, In Paris under Swing Records. He also recorded his highly complex piece Gallop's Gallop with Gigi Gryce Signa Records in 1955 and made an album with Art Blakey for Atlantic in 1957.
Toward the end of the 1950, Thelonious began to receive the prestige he had long deserved. His late fifties recordings on Riverside fared so well that in 1962 he was offered a contract from Columbia. By 1961, he had established a more or less permanent quartet consisting of "Charlie Rouse" on tenor saxophone, "John Ore" on bass and "Frankie Dunlop" on drums. In 1964, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Around 1970 he disbanded his group.
In November 1971 he made solo and trio recordings for Black Lion Records in London. He made three final performances with an orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and appeared with a quartet at the Newport Jazz Festival New York in 1975. After playing a concert at Carnegie Hall in March of 1976, Thelonious was too weak physically to make further appearances. He died on February 17, 1982, after suffering a massive stroke.
Awards & Certifications
Chart Toppers
News
Tours & Concerts
There are no current tour and concert schedules for Thelonious Monk.
Announcements
There are no announcements as of this time
Discography
Albums
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Singles
Compilations & Live Releases
| Date | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | The Best of The Blue Note Years | Blue Note |
| 1947 | The Complete Genius | Blue Note |
| 1947 | The Complete Blue Note Recordings | Mosaic |
| 1947 | Monk's Moods | Prestoge |
| 1952 | Reflections, Vol.1 | Prestige |
| 1954 | The Art of The Ballad | Prestige |
| 1954 | The Art of The Ballad | Prestige |
| 1954 | The Complete Vogue Recordings | Mosaic |
| 1954 | Piano Solo | BMG |
| 1955 | The Thelonious Monk Story | Riverside |
| 1955 | The Complete Riverside Recordings | Riverside |
| 1956 | Thelonious Monk's Greatest Hits | Riverside |
| 1957 | Standard Monk | Badstand |
| 1962 | The Essential Thelonious Monk | Columbia |
| 1963 | Spastic and Personal Live | Alto |
| 1963 | Greatest Hits | Columbia |
| 1965 | Paris Jazz Concert, Vol.1 live | Malaco |
| 1965 | The Thelonious Monk Story, Vol.1 | Riverside |
| 1971 | The Complete London Collection | Blank Lion |
| 1971 | The London Collection, Vol.1 | Blank Lion |
| 1971 | The Man I Love | Blank Lion |
| 1985 | I Like Jazz: The Essence of Thelonious Monk | Columbia |
| 1989 | Standards | Columbia |
| 1990 | The Composer | Columbia |
| 1992 | San Francisco Holiday | Milestone |
| 1992 | European Tour Live | LRC |
| 1994 | Essential | Tristar |
| 1996 | Blue Monk | Eclipse Music Group |
| 1996 | This is Jazz, Vol.5 | Sony |
| 1997 | Jazz Masters | EMI Jazz |
| 1998 | Sweet and Lovely | Moon |
| 1998 | Jazz Profile | Blue Note |
| 1998 | Live at The It Club:Complete | Columbia |
| 1998 | Monk Alone:The Complete Columbia Solo Studio Recordings: 1962-1968 | Columbia |
| 1998 | Jazz Hour with Thelonious Monk, Vol.2 | Jazz Hour |
| 1999 | Jazz Archives:Monk | Century Vista |
| 1999 | Reflections | Intercontinental |
| 2000 | Les Incontournables | Wea International |
| 2000 | Genius | Giants of Jazz |
| 2000 | Complete Prestige Recordings | Prestige |
| 2000 | The Riverside Tenor Sessions | APO |
| 2000 | Ken Burns Jazz | Columbia |
| 2001 | Riffin | Sony Special Products |
| 2001 | The Columbia Years live | Sony |
| 2002 | Jazz Classics | First Budget |
| 2002 | And His Quartet | Laserlight Digital |
| 2003 | The Essential | EMI |
| 2004 | Monk Plays Thelonious | Saga Jazz |
| 2004 | Story of Jazz | EMG |
| 2004 | Introspection | Birdland |
| 2004 | The Best of Thelonious Monk | Riverside |
| 2004 | Trios | Sony International |
| 2005 | Four in One | Quadromania |
| 2005 | The Very Best | Blue Note |
| 2005 | Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane | Blue Note |
| 2005 | 85th Birthday Celebration | Fantasy |
| 2005 | Four in One | Back Up |
| 2006 | Ruby My Dear | Fruit Tree |
| 2006 | The Classic Quartet | Candid |
| 2006 | BD Jazz | Nocturne |
| 2006 | The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings | Riverside |
| 2006 | Piano Solos | Collectables |
| 2006 | Riverside Profiles | Riverside |
| 2007 | Wallet Box | Documents |
| 2007 | Finest in Jazz | Blue Note |
| 2007 | Live in New York, Vol.1 | Explore |
| 2007 | The Transformer | Explore |
| 2007 | Live at The 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival | Monterey Jazz Festival |
| 2007 | Original Album Classics | Columbia |
| 2007 | The Measure of Monk | Hear |
Other artists
Similar artists
Contemporaries
Influences
Trivia
- He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1980.
Reviews
External Links
Categories: Artist | Jazz | Hard Bop
