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 always believed in being myself.
At this time the fashion is to bring something to jazz that I reject. They speak of freedom. But one has no right, under pretext of freeing yourself, to be illogical and incoherent by getting rid of structure and simply piling a lot of notes one on top of the other. There's no beat anymore. You can't keep time with your foot. I believe that what is happening to jazz with people like Ornette Coleman, for instance, is bad. There's a new idea that consists in destroying everything and find what's shocking and unexpected; whereas jazz must first of all tell a story that anyone can understand.
I guess, you know, if I didn't make it with the piano, I guess I would've been the biggest bum.
I'd go stupid collecting and counting my money.
I find my inspiration in myself.
We have two kids, my wife and myself.
I can shoot pool, and I can play ping-pong. I'm pretty good at those games.
I made the wrong mistakes
Man, that cat [Ornette Coleman] is nuts.
Be-bop wasn't developed in any deliberate way.
I never though much about race.
Everybody in all countries tries to play jazz.
Jazz is my adventure.
All musicians are potential band leaders.