1971–1982: Later life and death[edit]

Monk had disappeared from the scene by the mid-1970s for health reasons
and made only a small number of appearances during the nal decade of his
life. His last studio recordings as a leader were made in November 1971 for
the English Black Lion label, near the end of a worldwide tour with the Giants
of Jazz, a group which included Gillespie, Kai Winding, Sonny Stitt, Al
McKibbon, and Art Blakey. Bassist McKibbon, who had known Monk for over
twenty years and played on his nal tour in 1971, later said: "On that tour,
Monk said about two words. I mean literally maybe two words. He didn't say
'Good morning,' 'Goodnight,' 'What time?' Nothing. Why, I don't know. He sent
word back after the tour was over that the reason he couldn't communicate or
play was that Art Blakey and I were so ugly."[23] A different side of Monk is
revealed in Lewis Porter's biography, John Coltrane: His Life and Music;
Coltrane states: "Monk is exactly the opposite of Miles [Davis]: he talks about
music all the time, and he wants so much for you to understand that if, by
chance, you ask him something, he'll spend hours if necessary to explain it to
you."[24] Blakey reports that Monk was excellent at both chess and checkers.[25]
The documentary lm Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988) attributes
Monk's quirky behavior to mental illness. In the lm, Monk's son says that his
father sometimes did not recognize him, and he reports that Monk was
hospitalized on several occasions owing to an unspeci ed mental illness that
worsened in the late 1960s. No reports or diagnoses were ever publicized,
but Monk would often become excited for two or three days, then pace for
days after that, after which he would withdraw and stop speaking. Doctors
recommended electroconvulsive therapy as a treatment option for Monk's
illness, but his family would not allow it; antipsychotics and lithium were
prescribed instead.[26][27] Other theories abound: Leslie Gourse, author of the
book Straight, No Chaser: The Life and Genius of Thelonious Monk (1997),
reported that at least one of Monk's psychiatrists failed to nd evidence of
manic depression (bipolar disorder) or schizophrenia. Another doctor
maintains that Monk was misdiagnosed and prescribed drugs during his
hospital stay that may have caused brain damage.[26]
As his health declined, Monk's last six years were spent as a guest in the
Weehawken, New Jersey, home of his long-standing patron and friend,
Pannonica de Koenigswarter, who nursed Monk during his nal illness. She
proved to be a steadfast presence, as did his own wife Nellie, especially as
his life descended into further isolation.[12] Monk did not play the piano during
this time, even though one was present in his room, and he spoke to few
visitors. He died of a stroke on February 17, 1982, and was buried in Ferncliff
Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
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 Posthumous myth: Monk at Juilliard[edit]
There have been numerous published references since the 1980s in Monk
biographies purporting he attended the Juilliard School of Music,[28] an error
that continues to be disseminated in online biographies of Monk.[29] At Monk’s
funeral service in 1982, it was mentioned in his eulogy that he took classes in
harmony and arrangement at Juilliard.[30] In the 1988 documentary lm
Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser, Samuel E. Wright narrates that "Monk
began playing piano without formal training. Later, he took lessons and
studied music theory at the Juilliard School of Music."[31]
The complete lack of documented evidence connecting Monk with attending
Juilliard was noted by Monk biographer Thomas Fitterling in the rst German
edition of his Monk biography published in 1987.[32] The Juilliard canard may
have its early source in the fact that Monk’s sister Marion thought that her
piano teacher, a Mr. Wolfe (sic), who brie y taught Thelonious around 1930,
may have been connected to Juilliard as a teacher or student.[33] In fact, the
Monk family piano teacher had been trained by the concertmaster of the New
York Philharmonic and has no known connection to Juilliard.[34] Monk
biographer Laurent de Wilde believed that the apocryphal Juilliard story may
have stemmed from Monk’s late 1950s collaboration with Juilliard instructor
Hall Overton.[35] The main source of the Juilliard misunderstanding is probably
that Monk participated in a music contest circa 1942–1943 at the Columbus
Hill Community Center in his neighborhood, which had a Juilliard scholarship
as the rst prize. The teenage Monk entered the contest but placed second
and thus failed to get the scholarship. According to Monk’s wife Nellie, when
the prize winner later encountered Monk during a 1958 engagement and told
him that Monk should rightfully have been awarded the Juilliard scholarship,
Monk replied: "I'm glad I didn’t go to the conservatory. Probably would've
ruined me."[36]

Technique and playing style[edit]

Monk's music has profound humanity, disciplined economy, balanced virility, dramatic
nobility, and innocently exuberant wit
— Steve Lacy[37]
Monk once said, "The piano ain't got no wrong notes."[38] According to Bebop:
The Music and Its Players author Thomas Owens, "Monk's usual piano touch
was harsh and percussive, even in ballads. He often attacked the keyboard
anew for each note, rather than striving for any semblance of legato. Often
seemingly unintentional seconds embellish his melodic lines, giving the effect
of someone playing while wearing work gloves. [...] He hit the keys with
ngers held at rather than in a natural curve, and held his free ngers high
above the keys. [...] Sometimes he hit a single key with more than one nger,
and divided single-line melodies between the two hands."[39] In contrast with
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this unorthodox approach to playing, he could play runs and arpeggios with
great speed and accuracy.[39] He also had good nger independence, allowing
him to play a melodic line and a trill simultaneously in his right hand.[39] Monk's
style was not universally appreciated. For example, the poet and jazz critic
Philip Larkin described him as "the elephant on the keyboard".[40]
Monk often used parts of whole tone scales, played either ascending or
descending, and covering several octaves.[39] He also had extended
improvisations that featured parallel sixths (he also used these in the themes
of some of his compositions).[41] His solos also feature space and long notes.
[42] Unusually for a bebop-based pianist, as an accompanist and on solo

performances he often employed a left-hand stride pattern.[42] A further

characteristic of his work as an accompanist was his tendency to stop
playing, leaving a soloist with just bass and drums for support.[42] Monk had a
particular proclivity for the key of B at. All of his many blues compositions,
including "Blue Monk," "Misterioso," "Blues Five Spot," and "Functional," were
composed in B at; in addition, his signature theme, "Thelonious," largely
consists of an incessantly repeated B- at tone.[43]

Tributes[edit]
• Music in Monk Time is a 1983 documentary lm about Monk and his
music that was widely praised by music and lm critics.[44]
• Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy performed as Monk's accompanist in
1960. Monk's tunes became a permanent part of his repertoire in
concert and on albums. Lacy recorded many albums entirely focused
on Monk's compositions.
• Gunther Schuller wrote the work "Variants on a Theme of Thelonious
Monk (Criss-Cross)" in 1960. It rst appeared on Schuller's album Jazz
Abstractions (1961) and was later performed and recorded by other
artists, including Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and Bill Evans.
• Round Midnight Variations is a collection of variations on the song
"'Round Midnight" premiered in 2002. Composers contributing included
Milton Babbitt, William Bolcom, David Crumb, George Crumb, Michael
Daugherty, John Harbison, Joel Hoffman, Aaron Jay Kernis, Gerald
Levinson, Tobias Picker, Frederic Rzewski, Augusta Read Thomas, and
Michael Torke.[45]
• ”Thelonious” Repertory Ensemble: Buell Neidlinger, along with Steve
Lacy, studied and played with Monk at his home before playing with
Cecil Taylor. His tribute band "Thelonious" (1981–1989) is the most
substantive of all the Monk tribute bands in the depth and dif culty of its
repertoire. The book included "Trinkle Tinkle", "Four In One", and
"Skippy", the most dif cult of Monk's compositions.
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This group is well-documented on several records, including Thelonious at
the Red Sea and Thelonious Atmosphere. Musicians: Buell Neidlinger (bass,
leader, transcriptions), Marty Krystall (tenor, soprano sax, bass clarinet),
Hugh Schick (trumpet, piano, likely the rst transcriber of Monk’s more
intricate / arcane compositions), Harry Connick Jr. (piano), John Beasley
(piano), Bill Cunliffe, winner of T. Monk Competition (piano), Jerry Peters
(Keyboards), William Jeffrey (drums), Fritz Wyse (drums), Billy Osborne
(drums, piano), Larry Koonse (guitar). Two Monk alums, Putter Smith and
Larry Gales, substituted for Buell in the rare instance that he was not
available. It is likely the only Monk repertory / tribute band that never
performed music of other composers.
Buell's other records show a lifelong devotion to the Monk oeuvre. Stringjazz,
Buellgrass, and the Buell Neidlinger Quartet/Quintet are other groups of his
that routinely played and recorded Monk’s compositions. The personnel in
these bands involved luminaries including: Vincent Colaiuta, Elvin Jones, Billy
Higgins, Peter Erskine (drums), George Bohanon (trombone), Warren Gale
(trumpet).
• Stefano Benni's 2005 Misterioso, A Journey into the Silence of
Thelonious Monk was staged as a theatre production featuring Monk's
music, directed by Filomena Campus, at the Edinburgh Festival in
2008, at the Riverside Studios in 2009,[46] and at a variety of venues in
the following years.[47] In 2017, an Arts Council England-sponsored
international Monk Misterioso Tour was launched at the British Library in
October,[48] culminating with a new dramatised production of Misterioso:
A Journey into the Silence of Thelonious Monk at Kings Place to close
the London Jazz Festival's celebration of the centenary of Monk's birth,
featuring Campus alongside Cleveland Watkiss, Pat Thomas, Rowland
Sutherland, Orphy Robinson, Dudley Phillips and Mark Mondesir.[49][50][51]
• John Beasley founded the big band group MONK'estra, which
celebrates Monk's and other classic compositions with a contemporary
twist incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythms, modern jazz playing, hip hop
and traditional big band instrumentation, along with originals by
Beasley.[52]
Tribute albums
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