Monk, Thelonious Sphere (1917–1982)
US jazz pianist and composer. He took part in the development of bebop. He had a highly idiosyncratic style, but numbers such as ‘Round Midnight’ and ‘Blue Monk’ have become standards. Monk worked in Harlem, New York, during the Depression, and became popular in the 1950s.
| The non-profit Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance was founded within the New England Conservatory in Boston in 1996. Monk was posthumously awarded a Purlitzer Special Citation in 2006 for his musical composition, which had a lasting impact on the evolution of jazz. |
