Nov 17 2008
Some Monday Monk
I guess I am just in the mood to talk about some classic jazz musicians. Today, being a Monday, made me think of the great jazz piano player Thelonious Monk. We know that he was born in 1917, but the kind of cool thing about Monk is how little is actually known about his early life.
He was one of those classic jazz composer and performers who was around during the heyday of jazz. He got his start playing with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet. Well, he made his first recordings with them, anyway. He also played with Coltrane. He also played and recorded for the legendary Blue Note record label.
Monk also had legendary recordings with Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey and then the legendary Miles Davis as well. It was a great time for jazz fans back then. It seems like there was so little competition between artists and everyone was just excited to keep playing with each other, learning from each other, and taking the music as far as it could go.
Some of Monk’s recordings have become legendary and have been recorded and re-recorded by jazz artists since they were first created by him. Songs such as: “Epistrophy”, “‘Round Midnight”, “Blue Monk”, “Straight No Chaser” and “Well, You Needn’t”. He is often credited with being the inventor of the style of jazz known as “bebop.”
So, for your Monday, and from YouTube, here is Thelonious Monk doing a live performance in Oslo and his classic tune “Blue Monk.”
