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
The only cats worth anything are the cats that take chances.
If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.
After two takes you're imitating yourself.
I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself.
The inside of the tune [the bridge] is the part that makes the outside sound good.
I always believed in being myself.
I was playing birthday parties. House-rent parties where they used to sell whisky during prohibition.
Anybody talented in any way - they're called eccentric.
Its always night, or we wouldn't need light.
The piano ain't got no wrong notes.
I don't know where jazz is going. Maybe it's going to hell. You can't make anything go anywhere. It just happens.
I don't know what other people are doing - I just know about me.
Miles'd got killed if he hit me.
A note can be as small as a pin or as big as the world, it depends on your imagination.