Thelonious Monk: A Man Among The High Spheres
The highest spheres of jazz, that is…
ho can be named among the greatest jazz musicians/composers of all time, and at that, among the greatest musicians/composers of music as such?
The list can be extensive, but if you narrow it down, a few stand out. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus… you can add a few other names there, but one certainly belongs up there at the top with the above-mentioned, and that is Thelonious Sphere Monk.
As his official website, aptly notes, he is “recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original sound that even his most devoted followers have been unable to successfully imitate. His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition.” Simply put, he was not just one of the greatest American composers, but one of the greatest composers of modern music. Period.
No wonder he was given quite a few nicknames — “Melodious,” “The Mad Monk,” “The High Priest of Bebop,” or “The Genius of Modern Music.” Looking at his artistic output from the current perspective, the reasons for…
