Kelley brings to light a startlingly different Thelonious Monk–witty, intelligent, generous, family-oriented, politically engaged, brutally honest, and a devoted father and husband. In the first book on Thelonious Monk based on exclusive access to the Monk family papers and private recordings, as well as a decade of prodigious research, prize-winning historian Robin D. But, these labels tell us little about the man or his music. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster to his detractors he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or child-like. Writers tended to obsess over Monk’s hats or his proclivity to dance on stage. Yet throughout much of his life, his musical contribution took a backseat to tales of his reputed behavior. His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of “bebop” and establishing Monk as one of America’s greatest composers. “The piano ain’t got no wrong notes!” So ranted Thelonious Sphere Monk, who proved his point every time he sat down at the keyboard. Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
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