To say that singer-songwriter Thelonius Monk was a talented jazz musician is an understatement to say the least. The main focus of this essay is a critical analysis of one of the best jazz musicians ever, Thelonius Monk. He is said to be one of the creators of modern jazz, as well as bebop. Monk was born in the early 1900s in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Although he was born here, he moved to New York City at an early age and this is where he spent most of his life. His first approach to the piano occurred at the tender age of 5. A sort of child prodigy. During his teenage years, he dropped out of high school and found work touring as an accompanist for gospel singers. In the early 1940s, he joined the house band at Minton's Playhouse, where he actively sought his own unique sound and style. There he ended up developing the jazz style known as bebop and eventually ended up creating the sound called modern jazz. His first recorded album was recorded in 1944, but under a different name and it was not until 1947 that he began to name his own records. During the next decade, Monk was not in the spotlight and did not have much visibility. He was heavily criticized due to his playing style. Monk used an interesting technique and people often thought he was a lesser pianist. Also because of his unique name, the way he dressed and his appearance, it was easier to label him negatively. During this period of his life, he found his longtime girlfriend married and also had children with her. Things also began to turn in his favor in the early 1950s, as his records began to gain recognition and people began to realize his potential and appreciate his style more. He then signed with Prestige Records and his career began to take off. His 1956 album, "Brilliant Corners," was seen as his first big hit and what kicked off his rise to success. Monk eventually began touring throughout the United States and Europe with the Thelonius Monk Quartet in the 1960s. He continued to tour the world, but in 1973 he suddenly retired from the spotlight. Towards the end of his life he suffered from mental illness and lived away from the world and kept to himself. He died in February 1982 (Yanow). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first record I will analyze is the 32-bar tune, “'Round Midnight,” released in 1958. This is actually recognized by many as one of his greatest works. The crazy thing is that he recorded this song when he was only eighteen, but he couldn't record it because no one was interested. It is also known for being one of the greatest jazz songs recorded and performed. The opening line of the song is easily distinguishable for a song like this. The chord progression is also phenomenal for this track. In his songs, Monk usually used split notes, which is a fairly common jazz technique in which the artist hits the main key with a second key at the same time and quickly releases it at the same time. After Monk's passing, many artists covered some of his most famous and well-known songs, and this one in particular was the most used. The next track I chose was “Epistrophy” by Thelonius Monk. Interestingly enough, epistrophy is actually not a word, but an alteration of the word epistrophe, which described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the "repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive sentences, clauses, sentences, or verses in particular for rhetorical or poetic effect” (Merriam-Webster)..