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Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Early life
Thelonious Sphere Monk was born two years after his sister Marion on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North
Carolina, the son of Thelonious and Barbara Monk. His
badly written birth certicate misspelled his rst name as
Thelious[7] or Thelius. It also did not list his middle name, taken from his maternal grandfather, Sphere
Batts.[8] A brother, Thomas, was born in January 1920.[9]
In 1922, the family moved to 243 West 63rd Street, in
Manhattan, New York City. Monk started playing the
piano at the age of six. Monk was largely self-taught, although he did attend Stuyvesant High School, but did not
graduate.[10]
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disbanded. Monk did not form another long-term band
until June 1958, when he began a second residency at the
Five Spot, again with a quartet, this time with Grin (and
later Charlie Rouse) on tenor, Ahmed Abdul-Malik on
bass, and Roy Haynes on drums.
did not play the piano during this time, even though
one was present in his room, and he spoke to few visitors. He died of a stroke on February 17, 1982, and
was buried in Ferncli Cemetery in Hartsdale, New
York. In 1993, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award.[23] In 2006 he was awarded a special
Pulitzer Prize for a body of distinguished and innovative
musical composition that has had a signicant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz.[24] During his
lifetime, his style was not universally appreciated. Poet
and jazz critic Philip Larkin once dismissed Monk as the
elephant on the keyboard.[25]
REFERENCES
9 References
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Tributes
Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy performed as
Monks accompanist in 1960. Monks tunes became
a permanent part of his repertoire in concert and
on albums. Lacy recorded many albums entirely focused on Monks compositions.
Gunther Schuller wrote the work Variants on a
Theme of Thelonious Monk in 1960. It was later
performed and recorded by other artists, including
Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and Bill Evans.
In 1983, saxophonist Arthur Blythe's album Light
Blue: Arthur Blythe Plays Thelonious Monk was released by Columbia Records.
In 1984, a compilation album Thats The Way I Feel
Now: A Tribute To Thelonious Monk was released
by A&M Records. The album features such notable
musicians as Donald Fagen, Todd Rundgren, Peter
Frampton, Carla Bley, Joe Jackson, Steve Lacy,
John Zorn, NRBQ, Bruce Fowler, Chris Spedding,
Steve Khan, Sharon Freeman, Gil Evans, Mark
Bingham, Was Not Was.
10 External links
Thelonious Monk at DMOZ
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
The Ocial Thelonious Sphere Monk Website and
Home of Thelonius Records
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original website for the biography by Robin
D. G. Kelley
Thelonious Monk page in Jazz at Lincoln Centers
Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame
Thelonious Monks birth certicate
Roundabout Monk: The European Monk Website
Thelonious Monk at All About Jazz
IMDb entry for Thelonious Monk: Straight, No
Chaser
CBC.ca Article on 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners
Thelonious Monk Multimedia Directory Kerouac
Alley
Not So Misterioso: Robert Christgau on Monk
Photo of Monks grave at Findagrave
Thelonius Monk at Library of Congress Authorities,
with 182 catalog records
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