Thelonius Monk...Straight No Chaser


Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917-February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Widely considered one of the most important musicians in jazz -- he is one of only three jazz musicians to be featured on the cover of Time[1] -- Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy," "'Round Midnight," "Blue Monk," "Straight No Chaser" and "Well, You Needn't." Often regarded as a founder of bebop, Monk's playing style later evolved away from that form. His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are impossible to separate from Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations; a style nicknamed "Melodious Thunk" by his wife Nellie. Monk's manner was idiosyncratic. Visually, he was renowned for his distinctively "hip" sartorial style in suits, hats and sunglasses, and he developed an unusual, highly syncopated and percussive manner of playing piano. He was also noted for the fact that at times he would stop playing, stand up from the keyboard and dance while turning in a clockwise fashion, ring-shout style, while the other musicians in the combo played.
For more on This Jazz Legend, click on "Thelonius Monk...Straight No Chaser"
Located above....McLuvin is out!!!!!!

via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelonius_Monk

Comments

Popular posts from this blog