Tune in to WKCR on Friday, October 10, for our 24-hour birthday broadcast honoring the great Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917-1982). Born in North Carolina, Monk would move into the San Juan Hill (now Lincoln Center) neighborhood of Manhattan Pannonica de Koenigswarteriano at the age of 9 and would drop out of high school to pursue a career in music. In 1941, drummer Kenny Clarke hired Monk to be the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse, the epicenter of “modern” music, and the rest is history.
Monk would become a cornerstone of the evolution of bebop in the 40s and 50s. His counterparts such as Bud Powell and John Coltrane recognized his genius early on, yet it took some time before critics and the public caught on (the loss of his cabaret card contributed to this limited attention). Once restored, Monk landed a long residency at the Five Spot Café where his career took off. He signed with various labels including Blue Note, Columbia, Prestige, and and Riverside, toured Europe with his quartets, and appeared on the cover of Time magazine, to list just a few aspects of his heavy-hitting career as a pianist.
As a composer, his music was misunderstood; many critics, audiences, and interviewers mistook his eccentricity for irrationality which has now made him one of the most celebrated composers across the jazz idiom. In his own words, “the piano ain’t got no wrong notes.” He is the second most recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington with some of his most popular works including “Blue Monk,” “Well You Needn’t,” “Round Midnight,” “Straight, No Chaser,” “Ruby My Dear,” and “In Walked Bud.” In the late ‘60s and ‘70s, Monk’s health declined, leading him to move into the house of “The Jazz Baroness,” Pannonica de Koenigswarter, where he passed away in 1982 at the age of 64.
Today, Monk is recognized among the general public as one of the great composers and improvisers of the 20th century, and among jazz musicians as a genius who redefined the harmonic landscape of his time. Monk was a gift to us all and we are honored to continue our tradition of celebrating his music here at WKCR. WKCR made one of the first ever recordings—and the earliest performance on radio—of Monk back in 1941, from a show at Minton’s Playhouse, which was later released in 1973 as Midnight at Minton’s. We’ve been playing his music on the station for over 80 years and we have no intention of stopping!
Listeners can tune in on 89.9FM or stream the birthday celebration live on our website, wkcr.org. Follow WKCR on Instagram (@wkcr) and Twitter (@WKCRFM) for updates about this special broadcast and future events. Online listening is available 24/7 at wkcr.org via our web stream.
