In 1964, Monk became one of four jazz musicians ever to grace the cover of Time Magazine. By 1962, Monk was so popular that he was given a contract with Columbia Records, a decidedly more mainstream label than Riverside. Enjoying huge success, they went on to tour the United States and even make some appearances in Europe. In 1957, the Thelonious Monk Quartet, which included John Coltrane, began performing regularly at the Five Spot in New York. Thelonious Monk, who was criticized by observers who failed to listen to his music on its own terms, suffered through a decade. The most important jazz musicians are the ones who are successful in creating their own original world of music with its own rules, logic, and surprises. With the release of two more Riverside masterworks, Thelonious Himself and Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, Monk finally received the acclaim he deserved. The Most Important Jazz Music: Thelonious Monk. The album's title track made a splash with its innovative, technically demanding, and extremely complex sound, which had to be edited together from many separate takes. Not content to pander ineffectively to a nonexistent audience, Monk turned a page with his 1956 album, Brilliant Corners, which is usually considered to be his first true masterpiece. There, he attempted to make his first two recordings more widely accessible, but this effort was poorly received by critics. As Monk saw it, "The piano ain't got no wrong notes!" Though widespread recognition was still years away, Monk had already earned the regard of his peers as well as several important critics.īecause Monk's work continued to be largely overlooked by jazz fans at large, Prestige sold his contract to Riverside Records in 1955. Thelonious Monk: Blue Monk sheet music to print instantly for piano solo (beginners) 4. Thelonious Monk: Monks Mood for piano solo. Monk made a total of five Blue Note recordings between 19, including "Criss Cross" and "Evidence." These are generally regarded as the first works characteristic of Monk's unique jazz style, which embraced percussive playing, unusual repetitions and dissonant sounds. Thelonious Monk: Monks Mood for piano solo. Monk didn't record under his own name, however, until 1947, when he played as the leader of a sextet session for Blue Note. Period' Moran is in a dressing room deep within the John F. Monk's first known recording was made in 1944, when he worked as a member of Coleman Hawkins's quartet. 'Thelonious Monk is the most important musician, period,' Jason Moran says. Alongside Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, he explored the fast, jarring, and often improvised styles that would later become synonymous with modern jazz. Read the essay ‘The demons and obsessions of jazz genius Thelonious Monk’, by Candace Allen, which derives from the event.In 1941, Monk began working at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where he joined the house band and helped develop the school of jazz known as bebop. This event was a trailer to the Arts Council sponsored tour of Monk Misterioso: A Journey into the Silence of Thelonious Monk by Theatralia – directed by Filomena Campus – with text by Stefano Benni and featuring UK jazz stars, that were part of the EFG London Jazz Festival at Kings Place on 18 November 2017. Using detailed transcription and analysis, this study examines one of his solo performances of the 1940s standard tune I Should Care, first by explaining the basics of jazz harmony, and then by viewing Monk’s approach alongside those of two. Monk: Modernist Pioneer was Culture&’s second music event of 2017 featuring contemporary composers in new dynamic configurations. An icon of the genre, Thelonious Monk made music both exemplary of and different from all other jazz. With pianist, composer and bandleader Peter Edwards on solo piano and Filomena Campus on vocals, the duo performed Monk’s most famous compositions including ‘Round Midnight’, ‘Rhythm-a-Ning’ and ‘Blue Monk’.Īnalysis, poetry and biographical commentary were explored in a panel discussion led by Errol Francis, Artistic Director of Culture& and American writer and cultural critic Candace Allen, whose work explores the social and political power of music. Regarded as one of the most enigmatic and unusual jazz composers, Monk, whose unique improvisational style, with rigorously structured and surreal themes, created some of the most innovative and unsentimentally beautiful music in the history of jazz. Culture& commemorated the centenary of the birth of jazz composer Thelonious Monk.Ĭulture& in association with the British Library presented a specially curated evening of live performance and an illustrated lecture to celebrate the life of iconic jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.Įpitomising artistic originality, candid eccentricity and indifference to conventional rules of performance, Thelonious Monk emerged in the 1940s to become one of the high priests of bebop.