Thelonious Monk

American jazz pianist and composer.

Born: 10 October 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA.
Died: 17 February 1982 in Weehawken, New Jersey, USA (aged 64).

A performer with an idiosyncratic improvisational style who made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire and is the most recorded composer in the genre after Duke Ellington. He is often regarded as one of the founders of bebop. Monk's compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists. His unorthodox approach to the piano combines a highly percussive attack with abrupt, use of silence and dramatic pauses. He was also known for a distinct fashion sense in his suits, hats and trademark sunglasses. Monk was an unconventional stage presence, known for getting up from his piano to dance (sometimes in a counter-clockwise motion which drew comparisons to ring-shout and Muslim Sufi whirling) while his band members were playing. Recorded as leader for Blue Note (1947-52), Prestige (1952-54), Riverside Records (1955-61), Columbia (1962-68) and Black Lion Records (1971). Monk is one of only five jazz musicians to date to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, which puts him in a select company with Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Ellington, and Wynton Marsalis.

Father of Thelonious Monk Jr. and Barbara Monk (who was known as Boo Boo Monk).