He studied the trumpet briefly but began exploring the piano at age nine. Young Monk turned out to be a musical prodigy in addition to a good student and a fine athlete. During his stay, however, he often played the harmonica, вЂJewвЂ™s harp,вЂќ and piano-all of which probably influenced his sonвЂ™s unyielding musical interests. His father, Thelonious, Sr., joined the family three years later, but health considerations forced him to return to North Carolina. Unlike other Southern migrants who headed straight to Harlem, the Monks settled on West 63rd Street in the вЂњSan Juan HillвЂќ neighborhood of Manhattan, near the Hudson River. At the same time, his commitment to originality in all aspects of life-in fashion, in his creative use of language and economy of words, in his biting humor, even in the way he danced away from the piano-has led fans and detractors alike to call him вЂњeccentric,вЂќ вЂњmadвЂќ or even вЂњtaciturn.вЂќ Consequently, Monk has become perhaps the most talked about and least understood artists in the history of jazz.Д«orn on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Thelonious was only four when his mother and his two siblings, Marion and Thomas, moved to New York City. Johnson and Willie вЂњthe LionвЂќ Smith to the tonal freedom and kinetics of the вЂњavant garde.вЂќ And he shares with Edward вЂњDukeвЂќ Ellington the distinction of being one of the centuryвЂ™s greatest American composers. His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition, spanning the entire history of the music from the вЂњstrideвЂќ masters of James P.

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. With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music-let alone modern culture-simply hasnвЂ™t been the same.

Underground thelonious monk