Thelonious Monk Essay Example

out of school to pursue his love of music. By 1935, Monk took a job as a pianist with a traveling evangelist preacher. Only two years later, he formed his own quartet and played locally. Having formed a quartet opened the way for more opportunities.

Around 1941, Monk landed a job as the house pianist at the legendary Minton’s Manhattan Club. Being able to work at Minton’s brought Monk into close contact and collaboration with the bebop musicians including musicians like Miles Davis. In 1944 Monk made his first studio recording with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet which showcased his talent of improvisation. He was sometimes found to resemble Teddy Wilson.

Monk later married Nellie Smith the same year and had a son, T. S Monk who later became a jazz drummer. A daughter, Barbara was born a couple years later. A couple years later Monk was unfortunately restricted from playing in any NewYork venue where liquor was served because police confiscated his New York City Cabaret Card. So instead he spend most of the time composing, recording, and performing at theaters and out-of-town gigs.

In 1954, Monk visited Europe for the first time to record and perform. A couple of months after returning from Europe, Monk signed his first record to Riverside Records and even though he was regarded highly by many his records did not sell so well. His music was still too difficult to understand for the mass market. So to widen the broad spectrum of listeners he recorded an interpretation of Duke Ellington’s music.After finally having his cabaret card restored, he lived at the Five Spot Cafe in New York and was the

lead of a quartet that included John Coltrane.

This was able to bring his career back up. In 1958, because of possession of narcotics Monk was detained by police and was dropped from his record deal. Although he was dropped from his record company he got signed onto a major label which was Columbia Records. Under this label he recorded many well-review studio albums like Monk’s Dream and Underground. Monk had disappeared from the scene by the mid 1970’s and made an only a couple appearances during the last few years of his life.His last studio recordings we recordings were completed in November 1971.

Later in his life, Monk was known for the unusual manner in which he acted. He was extremely quite said Bassists Al McKibbon who had known Monk for over twenty years. It is said that all of Monk’s quirky attributes are due to mental illness. Monk’s son reports that his father did not recognize his and was in fact hospitalized on several occasions due to unspecified mental illness.

Monk would often become excited for two or three day, pace for days after that and then he would withdraw and stop speaking.No diagnoses were ever publicized but physicians recommended electroconvulsive therapy as treatment option for his illness. His family would not allow it so instead he took lithium and antipsychotic. As his health declined, Monk’s last six years were spent as a guest in the New Jersey home of his friend Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter. Monk died due to a stoke on February 17,1982 and was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Since his death, his music has been rediscovered

by a wider audience and he is now counted alongside the likes of Miles David and John Coltrane.

In 1993, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2006 he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. In the end, Thelonious Monk did what he loved and was passionate about and changed it for no one. He created his own original music with his owns rules and suffered the consequences. But ten years later, was looked upon as a genius even though he never changed his music in the interim. One of the most remarkable aspects of Monk’s music was that he saw no need to alter his playing or compositional style and that is what defined his career.