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 consider myself a musician who has achieved perfection and can't develop any further. But I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself. Take a musician like John Coltrane. He is a perfect musician, who can give expression to all the possibilities of his instrument. But he seems to have difficulty expressing original ideas on it. That is why he keeps looking for ideas in exotic places. At least I don't have that problem, because, like I say, I find my inspiration in myself.
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.
A note can be as small as a pin or as big as the world, it depends on your imagination.