Thelonious Monk

American jazz pianist and composer (born: 10 October 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA; died: 17 February 1982 in Weehawken, New Jersey, USA, aged 64).

A performer with an idiosyncratic improvisational style who made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire and is the most recorded composer in the genre after . He is often regarded as one of the founders of bebop. Monk’s compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists. His unorthodox approach to the piano combines a highly percussive attack with abrupt, use of silence and dramatic pauses. He was also known for a distinct fashion sense in his suits, hats and trademark sunglasses. Monk was an unconventional stage presence, known for getting up from his piano to dance (sometimes in a counter-clockwise motion which drew comparisons to ring-shout and Muslim Sufi whirling) while his band members were playing. Recorded as leader for (1947-52), (1952-54), (1955-61), (1962-68) and . Monk is one of only five jazz musicians to date to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, which puts him in a select company with Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Ellington, and Wynton Marsalis.

Father of Thelonious Monk Jr. and Barbara Monk (who was known as ).