Thelonious Monk Quartet’s 1963 album on Columbia Records. LAYIN’ DEAD by Rachel Hoiem Playing and Performance Style Thelonious Monk is always mentioned with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie as a founder of modern jazz, but Monk’s style is not at all like the other musicians of his time. Unusual approaches to harmony, melody, and rhythm give Monk a particular asymmetry that continues to be a heavy influence on the music scene. Many of Monk’s harmonic ideas were influenced by Art Tatum, whose chords were strengthened by the use of varied voicings, added notes, passing chords and substitutions.

Feb 17, 1982  Find Thelonious Monk discography, albums and singles on AllMusic AllMusic. New Releases. Featured New Releases. Thelonious Sphere Monk. Submit Corrections. Related Blog Posts. New Releases Roundup: Week of November 26, 2013. Monk's Music: Original Jazz Classics 1957. Dec 5, 2007 - This pathbreaking study combines cultural theory, biography, and musical analysis to shed new light on Monk's music and on the jazz canon.

While Parker and Gillespie liked to hear these types of chord sequences as background for their solos, Monk seems to have taken Tatum’s approach to another level. By using uncommon substitutions and displacing the harmonic rhythm, Monk’s chords have a sense of deliberate conflict. Some people speculate that a reason for his sour harmonies are a result of early attempts at playing stride when his hands were still too small to hit a clean octave. Monk’s artistic vision was very strong. He knew exactly what he wanted to play and how he wanted to play it.

His playing was so unique and so self-contained that many jazz musicians and listeners didn’t know what to make of it. Many bebop players of Monk’s time were playing fast, smooth rhythms, trying to fit in the maximum number of notes. Monk, in contrast, embraced space and simplicity in his playing and was able to outline his pieces with a minimal amount of notes.

His playing sounded rough and angular in comparison to someone like his friend Bud Powell. It took nearly a generation for Monk’s more obscure pieces to become a regular part of jazz repertoire. Monk was indeed eccentric, both in his playing and social habits. He made no distinction between seriousness and humor in his musical statements, and critics easily dismissed him. During interviews he seemed aloof and would often go for days without speaking to a soul. He was criticized for dressing unusually, wearing strange hats, eyeglasses and topcoats (even when indoors). During gigs, Monk often got up and danced while the rest of the band was playing.

“he would rise from the piano to perform his Monkish dance. It is always the same. His feet stir in a soft shuffle, spinning him slowly in small circles. Naruto clash of ninja 2 gamecube rom games. His head rolls back until hat brim meets collar, while with both hands he twists his goatee into a sharp black scabbard.