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Thelonious Sphere Monk was born in
Rocky Mount, North Carolina on October 10, 1917. His family moved soon
after he was born and Thelonious grew up in New York City. He began
playing the piano at age five and learned the Stride
Piano Style from one of his neighbors, James P. Johnson
the great Stride pianist.
Thelonious has very little formal music
training. He was essentially a self-taught musician.
Thelonious Monk, along with other great
Jazz innovators, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Kenny
Clarke, and Charlie Christian were largely responsible for
establishing the modern or BeBop
Jazz sound.
From 1940 to 1943 Thelonious played for
the house band at Mintons. It was here that he first began
experimenting with the irregular rhythms and jarring harmonies that
characterized his later years. He also played occasionally at Monroe's
Uptown House. In 1944 Monk joined the Cootie Williams band and
although the band soon broke up, they did record his most famous
composition, Round Midnight.
In 1945 Thelonious became the pianist
for Coleman Hawkins and gained some recognition. He later played with
Dizzy Gillespie, but his piano stylings were still to far from the
mainstream for most listeners and he remained an obscure player while
lesser talents became well known. From 1947 to 1952 he recorded
several compositions for the Blue Note Record
Company that were later to become classics; Ruby My Dear,
Well you Needn't, Round Midnight, and Straight,
No Chaser.
Thelonious Monk's BeBop style of Jazz
did not begin to catch on until the mid 1950s. In 1955 he began
recording for Riverside Records and in 1956 he recorded the album that
is still considered a Jazz masterpiece, Brilliant Corners.
Thelonious played the Five Spot
Club in 1957. One of the newcomers with his quartet was a
Saxophone player named John Coltrane. John learned a lot
from Thelonious and later went on to become a Jazz celebrity in his
own right. During the 1960s, Thelonious and a new quartet he had
formed with Charlie Rouse on the saxophone recorded for Columbia
Records.
During the late sixties and early
seventies Thelonious began to suffer from psychiatric problems and was
forced to retire in 1973.
Thelonious Monk died in Weehawken, New
Jersey on February 17, 1982.
Sources:
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Encyclopedia
Africana
Atlanta
Music Group (AMG)
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