Remembering Thelonious Monk, born on this day in 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Everyone has probably played "Straight No Chaser" or "Blue Monk" at one time or another, but the music of Thelonious Monk runs much deeper than these frequently called blues heads. His catalog - some 60 to 70 songs, many of them familiar to even moderately serious jazz fans - forms the spine of the contemporary repertoire. That has also made him a major influence on every composer working in jazz and improvised music.
