THELONIOUS MONK
• October 10, 1917 Thelonious Sphere Monk, Jr., hall of fame jazz pianist and composer, was born in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Monk started playing the piano at age six and although he had some formal training, he was essentially self-taught. In the early to mid-1940s, Monk served as the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse which featured most of the leading jazz soloists of the day. Monk made his first studio recording in 1944 and his first recording as leader of a group in 1947. Although Monk was highly regarded by his peers and jazz critics, his records did not sell well because his music was considered too difficult for the mass market. His first commercially successful album was the 1956 “Brilliant Corners” and his most commercially successful album was the 1963 “Monk’s Dream.” On February 28, 1964, Monk became one of only five jazz musicians to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. Monk was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1963 and died on February 17, 1982. In 1988, the documentary “Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser” was released. In 1993, Monk was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2006 was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation “for a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz.” The album “Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane” (1961) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007 as a recording of “lasting qualitative or historical significance.” His biography, “Thelonious Monk,” was published in 2009.
>via: http://thewright.org/explore/blog/entry/today-in-black-history-10102012
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Thelonious Monk in His Prime:
Copenhagen, 1966
On April 17, 1966, Thelonious Monk performed a special half-hour set for a television program in Copenhagen, Denmark. The footage captures Monk in his prime. His quartet features the classic lineup of Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on Bass and Ben Riley on Drums. They play three songs, beginning with an 18-minute version of “Lulu’s Back in Town,” from the 1964 album It’s Monk’s Time. Each musician has room to solo as Monk gets up from his piano and does his stiff, idiosyncratic dance. Next, Monk plays a solo version of the standard, “Don’t Blame Me,” by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. The full quartet returns for Monk’s signature show-closer, “Epistrophy.” The Copenhagen set, along with another one recorded two days earlier in Norway, is available on DVD as part of the Jazz Icons series.
>via: http://www.openculture.com/2012/03/thelonious_monk_in_his_prime_copenhagen_19...