Near his home were several jazz clubs, as well as the residence of Harlem stride pianist James P. He also received rigorous gospel training accompanying his church choir (in which his mother sang), and attended Stuyvesant High School, where he excelled at physics and math. He started playing piano a year later and received formal classical tutoring from age 11. His family moved to New York City when he was five.

Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in October of 1917. In 1978, he was honored by President Jimmy Carter during a White House jazz party. From 1976 until his death in 1982, Monk lived at the home of longtime friend Pannonica de Koenigswarter. After leaving Columbia in 1971, he recorded and played live only sporadically. Monk released the charting Criss-Cross and Monk's Dream in 1963 and landed on the cover of Time a year later. On-stage, he was in constant motion: he'd leave his piano to dance during another player's solo, wiggle on his piano bench to emphasize a rhythm, and even bash elbows and forearms onto the keys in search of different tones. He cut outstanding albums for Riverside and Prestige in the '50s ( Brilliant Corners), and Columbia in the '60s ( Monk's Dream). Monk's Blue Note recording sessions between 19, and 19, netted two volumes, numerically titled Genius of Modern Music. A classically trained pianist, he was deeply influenced by Harlem's stride piano tradition. (His motto was 'There are no wrong notes on the piano.') Monk's name is synonymous with the creation of modern jazz many of his compositions are jazz standards including, 'Round Midnight,' 'Well You NeednРІР‚в„ўt,' 'Straight, No Chaser,' and 'Epistrophy.' His bold musical conceptions sought to bind harmony and rhythm seamlessly to melody. His playing technique offered a percussive approach to the piano, identified by sparse, complex, sometimes dissonant harmonies, developed from unusual intervals and rhythms, and imbued with warmth and playfulness. Recognized as one of the most original musicians in American history, Thelonious Sphere Monk fashioned a startlingly unique, inimitable playing and composing style that influenced virtually every succeeding jazz generation.

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