Thelonious Monk (1917-1982)

Monk was an American composer and jazz pianist. He was an innovator in the bebop era and is considered one of the founders of bebop in early 1940s. His sound and style are totally unique – one of the most desirable qualities for a jazz musician and Monk’s style is a part of the jazz canon today.

One of his first influences was Teddy Wilson whose style is very smooth and flowing with a very tradition type of technique. His mature style can be seen as an extension of Duke Ellington’s piano style. His sound and style are so unique that it can be instantly recognized as Monk, and imitator of Monk, or someone playing in Monk’s style.

The Monk’s style:
• Unorthodox technique: this created a very bright and expressive tone color. (this element of his playing is often misunderstood, because people assume that he was uneducated or improperly trained in piano technique. This is a mistake because it discounts the artist’s goals in choosing a method to produce a sound). About 3’10’’ of this video clip, we will see the unique way he chose to create the sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmhP1RgbrrY

• Rhythm: Monk chose angular, irregular rhythms and syncopations that were at the core of the bebop movement’s ideals. Some of his compositions are primarily rhythmic in nature, consisting of only a few pitches. (Thelonious, Evidence - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHtZ66EcZnU&feature=related, Raise Four, etc.) Another one of his innovations is using space and rhythmic development. They are sometimes unsettling and purposely angular.
• Dissonance: He chose to voice chords in a way that maximized the dissonances (Sometimes inverting intervals to enhance dissonance or using major/minor seconds in a melodic line).
• He would play tone clusters that subtly resolve by letting go of only a few notes and uses the interval of a tritone very often.

As a composer, he developed an individual voice as a composer in jazz. The compositions were not “transcribed improvisation” or contrafactum (taking the chord and composing a new melody for them). Monk is one of the major figures in jazz composition. These figures include Wayne Shorter and Duke Ellington. His compositions have become jazz standards and pieces used in education curriculums.

Because of his eccentric musical language and technique, people sometimes think that he just crazy and this did not help other aspects of his acceptance. But the musicians of his day (Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Deter Gordon, many others) valued his contributions as a pianist and composer.

Bebop was a difficult music for some of the previous generation to accept. It represented a change from the idea of music for dancing to music for listening. Bebop was kind of art type music and more virtuosic. The rhythm is more complicated than in the previous jazz style known as Swing. This clip “Evidence” is primary about the rhythm:

Coleman Hawkins was a major figure in the history of jazz saxophone, and a musician of the previous generation. His particularly strong support of the new style (bebop) and Thelonious Monk was an important stamp of acceptance at a time in Monk’s career that helped to establish a foothold in the music industry.

There is a great documentary about Thelonious Monk which is separated by 10 video clips on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2z67tTQIvI&feature=PlayList&p=087A76022393117D&index=0&playnext=1