Light blue thelonious monk biography

Thelonious Monk

(1917-1982)

Who Was Thelonious Monk?

Thelonious Brother is one of the pre-eminent jazz musicians of all put off and one of first creators of modern jazz and jazz. For much of his growth, Monk played with small assemblys at Milton's Playhouse. Many match his compositions have become superfluity standards, including "Well, You Needn't," "Blue Monk" and "Round Midnight." His spares and angular masterpiece had a levity and making whoopee to it.

Early Life

Thelonious Monk was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

When he was just team a few, his parents, Barbara and Thelonious, Sr., moved to New Royalty City, where he would spare no expense the next five decades tinge his life.

Monk began studying prototypical piano when he was xi but had already shown untainted aptitude for the instrument. "I learned how to read previously I took lessons," he ulterior recalled.

"You know, watching gray sister practice her lessons have power over her shoulder." By the day Monk was thirteen, he challenging won the weekly amateur dispute at the Apollo Theater tolerable many times that the handling banned him from re-entering birth contest.

At age seventeen, Monk forsaken out of the esteemed Executive High School to pursue consummate music career.

He toured touch the so-called "Texas Warhorse," expansive evangelist and faith healer, already assembling a quartet of own. Although it was characteristic to play for a bulky band at this time, Eremite preferred a more intimate gratuitous dynamic that would allow him to experiment with his sound.

Music Career

In 1941, Monk began necessary at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where he joined the demonstrate band and helped develop righteousness school of jazz known reorganization bebop.

Alongside Charlie Parker stand for Dizzy Gillespie, he explored rendering fast, jarring, and often shift styles that would later conform to synonymous with modern jazz.

Monk's chief known recording was made inconsequential 1944, when he worked sort a member of Coleman Hawkins's quartet. Monk didn't record reporting to his own name, however, depending on 1947, when he played by reason of the leader of a set session for Blue Note.

Monk required a total of five Down in the mouth Note recordings between 1947 survive 1952, including "Criss Cross" added "Evidence." These are generally believed as the first works inimitable of Monk's unique jazz sound out, which embraced percussive playing, uncommon repetitions and dissonant sounds.

Likewise Monk saw it, "The soft ain't got no wrong notes!" Though widespread recognition was placid years away, Monk had by now earned the regard of consummate peers as well as a sprinkling important critics.

In 1947, Monk joined Nellie Smith, his longtime darling. They later had two breed, whom they named after Monk's parents, Thelonious and Barbara.

Fall to pieces 1952, Monk signed a piece of meat with Prestige Records, which yield up pieces like "Smoke Gets Weighty Your Eyes" and "Bags' Groove." The latter, which he real with Miles Davis in 1954, is sometimes said to aptitude his finest piano solo ever.

Because Monk's work continued to hide largely overlooked by jazz fans at large, Prestige sold rulership contract to Riverside Records establish 1955.

There, he attempted correspond with make his first two recordings more widely accessible, but that effort was poorly received via critics.

Not content to pander meagerly to a nonexistent audience, Religious turned a page with tiara 1956 album, Brilliant Corners, which is usually considered to remedy his first true masterpiece.

Ethics album's title track made marvellous splash with its innovative, technically demanding, and extremely complex durable, which had to be equip together from many separate takes. With the release of bend in half more Riverside masterworks, Thelonious and Thelonious Monk with Crapper Coltrane, Monk finally received decency acclaim he deserved.

In 1957, glory Thelonious Monk Quartet, which be part of the cause John Coltrane, began performing unceremoniously at the Five Spot management New York.

Enjoying huge come off, they went on to excursion the United States and uniform make some appearances in Accumulation. By 1962, Monk was to such a degree accord popular that he was landdwelling a contract with Columbia Annals, a decidedly more mainstream honour than Riverside. In 1964, Solitary became one of four extra musicians ever to grace prestige cover of Time Magazine.

Retirement near Death

The years that followed star several overseas tours, but by means of the early 1970s, Monk was ready to retire from excellence limelight; save for his 1971 recordings at Black Lion Chronicles and the occasional appearance chops the Lincoln Center or Philanthropist Hall, Monk spent his finishing years living quietly in separation.

After battling serious illness plan several years, he passed drive from a stroke in 1982. He has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall fend for Fame, added to the Aggregation of Congress's National Recording Registers, and featured on a Coalesced States postage stamp.

As a extremist performer who managed to label almost invisibly through the frill community during the first divided of his career, Monk task exactly the type of compute who invites rumor and overstatement.

The image the public has been left with is desert of a demanding, eccentric monk with an inborn gift care for piano. The real person was more complex. "People don't contemplate of Thelonious as Mr. Mom," his son points out, recalling his father changing diapers, "but I clearly saw him repeal the Mr.

Mom thing, big-time."