Better know as  Thelonious Monk, he was born on 10 October 10th, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA, and died: 17 February 1982 in Weehawken, New Jersey, USA (aged 64).

Among the most influential musicians, especially amongst pianists, of the twentieth century.
Monk had a idiosyncratic improvisational style, both musically and visually, and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire. He is often regarded as one of the founders of bebop, though his playing later evolved away from that style.

Both his prolific compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, consistent with Monk’s unorthodox approach to the piano, combining a highly percussive attack with abrupt, usually very dramatic, usage of silences and hesitations.

He was also renowned for his distinctively sartorial style in suits, hats and his trademark sunglasses. He was also well known for his actions on stage during performances. While the other musicians in the group continued playing, he would sometimes stop, stand up from the piano, dance for a few moments, and then return to the piano and continue playing. Whether this was part of his act or because he was entranced in his art form has never been substantiated in the few interviews with him.
One of his regular dances consisted of continuously turning counter-clockwise, which has drawn comparisons to ring-shout and Muslim Sufi whirling.

Monk is also one of only five jazz musicians to date to be featured on the cover of Time magazine (the other four being Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis, and Dave Brubeck).

Discography

Blue Note Records (1948–1952)

Main article: Thelonious Monk Blue Note Sessions

• Genius of Modern Music: Volume 1 (1947 Blue Note recordings)
• Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2 (1951–1952 Blue Note recordings)
• Thelonious Monk Trio (Prestige 7027), 1952–4
• Monk (Prestige 7053) recorded 1953-4
• Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins (Prestige 7075), recorded 1953-4
• Thelonious Monk plays the Music of Duke Ellington (1955)
• The Unique Thelonious Monk (1955)
• Brilliant Corners (1956 recording with Sonny Rollins and Clark Terry)
• Thelonious Himself (1957)
• Monk’s Music (1957)
• Mulligan Meets Monk (1957, with Gerry Mulligan)
• Thelonious in Action and Misterioso (1958, live at the Five Spot with Johnny Griffin)
• The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall (1959, Charlie Rouse joined the band then)
• 5 by Monk by 5 (1959)
• Thelonious Alone in San Francisco (1959)
• Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk (1960, with Charlie Rouse)
• Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (1957 recordings, 1961 issue) – Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
  
• Monk in France (recorded in 1961)
• Thelonious Monk in Italy (recorded 1961, released 1963)
• Thelonious Monk and the Jazz Giants (1987)
• Thelonious Monk Quartet Live at the Five Spot: Discovery! (with Coltrane recorded 1957, released in 1993 on Blue Note)
• Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall (1957, released 2005 on Blue Note.)
• The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings (2006 collection of the 1957 studio recordings with Coltrane)
• Monk’s Dream (1963)
• Criss-Cross (1963)
• Monk in Tokyo (1963)
• Miles & Monk at Newport (1963, with unrelated 1958 Miles Davis performance)
• Big Band and Quartet in Concert (1963)
• It’s Monk’s Time (1964)
• Monk. (1964)
• Solo Monk (1964)
• Live at the It Club (1964)
• Live at the Jazz Workshop (1964)
• Straight, No Chaser (1966)
• Underground (1967)
• Monk’s Blues (1968)

• Prestige Records (1952–1954)
• Riverside Records (1955–1961)
• Columbia Records (1962–1968)

Other labels

• Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Atlantic, 1958)
• Thelonious Monk Nonet Live In Paris 1967 (France Concert LP FC-113, 1967)
• The Giants of Jazz (Atlantic, 1971) with Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Al McKibbon, Sonny Stitt and Kai Winding

As sideman

With Coleman Hawkins

• Bean and the Boys (Prestige 7824) 1944

With Milt Jackson

• Wizard of the Vibes (Milt Jackson: 1948 Blue Note recordings)

With Miles Davis

• Bags’ Groove (Prestige, 1954)
• Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (Prestige, 1954)

With Sonny Rollins

• Moving Out (Prestige 7058) 1954 (on one track)
• Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1957)

With Gigi Gryce

• Nica’s Tempo (Savoy, 1955)

With Clark Terry

• In Orbit (Riverside, 1958)

Compilations

• Monk’s Miracles (1966)
• Monk’s Greatest Hits (Columbia, 1968)
• Midnight at Minton’s (c.1941, issued 1973 under Don Byas’ name. Monk does not play on all tracks of this or the other two CDs of 1941 material)
• After Hours (c.1941, issued 1973 under Charlie Christian’s name)
• After Hours in Harlem c.1941, issued 1973 under Hot Lips Page’s name
• April in Paris (Monk album)|April in Paris (1981 2-LP set of the April 18, 1961 Paris recordings)
• Monk’s Classic Recordings (1983)
• Blues Five Spot (1984, unissued recordings from 1958–61, with various saxophonists and Thad Jones, cornet)
• Something in Blue, Nice Work in London, Blue Sphere and The Man I Love (all 1971 recordings, collected in The London Collection 1988, three CDs)
• The Complete Riverside Recordings of Thelonious Monk (1991, 15 CD, Riverside)
• The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk (1994, 4 CD, Blue Note)
• Live at Monterey Jazz Festival ’63 (sept. 21–2, 1963, MFSL, 2 vols. issued 1996-7)
• Monk Alone: The Complete Solo Studio Recordings of Thelonious Monk 1962–1968 (1998, 2 CD, Sony)
• The Complete Prestige Recordings of Thelonious Monk (2000, 3 CD, Prestige)
• The Columbia Years: ’62–’68 (2001, 3 CD, Sony)
• The Complete Vogue Recordings/The Black Lion Sessions (1954–71) (3LP, Mosaic)
• All Monk. The Riverside Albums (2010, 16 CD, Universal)
• The Thelonious Monk Quartet Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection (2012, 6 CD, Sony)