Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monkwas an American jazz pianist and composer. Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser" "Ruby, My Dear", "In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington, which is particularly remarkable as Ellington composed more than 1,000 pieces, whereas Monk wrote about 70...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPianist
Date of Birth10 October 1917
CityRocky Mount, NC
CountryUnited States of America
I don't know where jazz is going. Maybe it's going to hell. You can't make anything go anywhere. It just happens.
The piano ain't got no wrong notes.
It can't be any new note. When you look at the keyboard, all the notes are there already. But if you mean a note enough, it will sound different. You got to pick the notes you really mean!
I was playing birthday parties. House-rent parties where they used to sell whisky during prohibition.
I always believed in being myself.
I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself.
I played the wrong wrong notes.
Everyone is a genius at being themselves
After two takes you're imitating yourself.
If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.
The inside of the tune [the bridge] is the part that makes the outside sound good.
Its always night, or we wouldn't need light.
Anybody talented in any way - they're called eccentric.
I don't know what other people are doing - I just know about me.