Logan Whaley: Thelonious Monk
Logan Whaley
Biography
Improvisation IV
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk is known as one of the most unique, inimitable piano players of all time. Monk was both ahead of his time, and deeply rooted in tradition, and used his extraordinary gift of perfect pitch to learn songs and memorize them fast. Thelonious had a love for the piano from a young age, and grew up in Manhattan around lots of musicians. After failing academically as a young high school student he decided to drop out of school and pursue being a musician. He went on tour with an evangelic healer for 2 years, shortly after dropping out. When he came back home he was playing out as much as possible. His reputation grew as one of the best around as he began to grow. He …show more content…
The after- hours jam sessions that went on there, along with a number of other jazz clubs, gave birth to what is now known as ‘be-bop.’ Musicians he played with were Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Mary Lou Williams, Kenny Clarke, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Tadd Dameron, to name a few. The jam sessions that took place here were inspiring many musicians of the day. From the time Thelonious was on the scene this new thing called ‘modern jazz’ was emerging, and people either really liked it or didn’t understand it at all. And Monk was the leader of modern-jazz. No one was playing the way Monk did, he was just purely original. When Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie had questions regarding music they went to Monk for the answer. Monk was annoyed when he heard people praising ‘Bird’ and ‘Dizzy’ saying that started the revolution to modern jazz. Monk said this in an interview with a French ‘Jazz magazine’: “I feel like I have contributed more to modern jazz than all of the other musicians combined. That’s why I don’t like to hear: ‘Gillespie and Parker’ brought the revolution to Jazz’ When I know most of the ideas came from me. Dizzy and Bird did nothing for me musically, they didn’t teach me …show more content…
He wasn’t an idiot savant like people claimed neither, he was shy around the media, but his close friends and family would classify him as a jokester, and a witty one at that. He was a family man and took his work seriously. Monk was quiet, and his few words were said in a deep tone and often mumbled a lot of people didn’t get him. Monk went to the beat of his own drum. All he worried about was making sure his family had a place to eat and sleep and tried to make it as comfortable as possible; and making music. He would go out on stage with the big diamond on his finger, and wearing eccentric hats and fur coats. To his fans, he was the hippest guy around; to the others they didn’t get him and were more than likely just racist and wanted nothing to do with “That type” of music. Monk played everything different, never two things alike. In a time where all musicians wanted to play as many notes as possible, Monk loved to use space and silence in his solo’s, sometimes dropping out completely just to see what would happen. He believed the loudest note was silence. Critics were displeased by Monk’s unique style, and it took some getting used to him before he got to where he really broke through professionally. Musically he had been what he called “His way” since he was 15 years old. But in the 40’s and 50’s besides gigs here and there with bands led by Kenny Clarke, Lucky Millinder, Kermit Scott, and
Biography
Improvisation IV
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk is known as one of the most unique, inimitable piano players of all time. Monk was both ahead of his time, and deeply rooted in tradition, and used his extraordinary gift of perfect pitch to learn songs and memorize them fast. Thelonious had a love for the piano from a young age, and grew up in Manhattan around lots of musicians. After failing academically as a young high school student he decided to drop out of school and pursue being a musician. He went on tour with an evangelic healer for 2 years, shortly after dropping out. When he came back home he was playing out as much as possible. His reputation grew as one of the best around as he began to grow. He …show more content…
The after- hours jam sessions that went on there, along with a number of other jazz clubs, gave birth to what is now known as ‘be-bop.’ Musicians he played with were Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Mary Lou Williams, Kenny Clarke, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Tadd Dameron, to name a few. The jam sessions that took place here were inspiring many musicians of the day. From the time Thelonious was on the scene this new thing called ‘modern jazz’ was emerging, and people either really liked it or didn’t understand it at all. And Monk was the leader of modern-jazz. No one was playing the way Monk did, he was just purely original. When Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie had questions regarding music they went to Monk for the answer. Monk was annoyed when he heard people praising ‘Bird’ and ‘Dizzy’ saying that started the revolution to modern jazz. Monk said this in an interview with a French ‘Jazz magazine’: “I feel like I have contributed more to modern jazz than all of the other musicians combined. That’s why I don’t like to hear: ‘Gillespie and Parker’ brought the revolution to Jazz’ When I know most of the ideas came from me. Dizzy and Bird did nothing for me musically, they didn’t teach me …show more content…
He wasn’t an idiot savant like people claimed neither, he was shy around the media, but his close friends and family would classify him as a jokester, and a witty one at that. He was a family man and took his work seriously. Monk was quiet, and his few words were said in a deep tone and often mumbled a lot of people didn’t get him. Monk went to the beat of his own drum. All he worried about was making sure his family had a place to eat and sleep and tried to make it as comfortable as possible; and making music. He would go out on stage with the big diamond on his finger, and wearing eccentric hats and fur coats. To his fans, he was the hippest guy around; to the others they didn’t get him and were more than likely just racist and wanted nothing to do with “That type” of music. Monk played everything different, never two things alike. In a time where all musicians wanted to play as many notes as possible, Monk loved to use space and silence in his solo’s, sometimes dropping out completely just to see what would happen. He believed the loudest note was silence. Critics were displeased by Monk’s unique style, and it took some getting used to him before he got to where he really broke through professionally. Musically he had been what he called “His way” since he was 15 years old. But in the 40’s and 50’s besides gigs here and there with bands led by Kenny Clarke, Lucky Millinder, Kermit Scott, and