by Chris Alexander

6/12/95

Thelonious Monk was one of the most prolific and influential composers and performers in the history of jazz. One of Monk's most important contributions to jazz was his use of space and simplicity in his performances and in his compositions. Monk's unconventional use of harmony and rhythm has had a lasting influence on jazz as well. Finally, Monk's compositions are very well-known, both by performers and by listeners.

Many of the jazz players of Monk's time expressed themselves by filling their musical space with notes. Monk took an entirely different approach to playing-his style was sparse and minimal. Monk was able to outline the structure of a piece using an absolute minimum of notes. This was directly opposite the style of most of the beboppers of Monk's time. "So you could say that space defined Monk, especially vis-à-vis his bebop contemporaries" (Santoro 499).

Most beboppers saw space as a void to be filled with music, but Monk saw space as an integral part of his playing and his composing. Space was as important to Monk's style as rhythm and chord structure. "[The beboppers] frantically sought to overpower space with sound, to filigree it with harmonically structured ideas-an attempt to control the inevitable. Monk and Miles, on the other hand, both sought to incorporate space into the essence of what they did. Space created relief, texture, definition -- even humor" (Santoro 499).

The simple beauty of Monk's style is perhaps the most striking thing about his playing. Through his playing, Monk communicated his emotions and ideas in a very honest way. Monk was able to distill the essence of a piece, to extract its beauty and uniqueness.

It might first appear that Monk's simple style is a result of a limited grasp of his music, but this is not true. Actually, Monk had to have been a very smart, complex musician to produce such powerful music with so few notes. "There was a wonderfully childlike quality to his playing (his fellow pianist Hampton Hawes once said it sounded `honest as a little child'), and to much of his writing as well (think of classic Monk compositions like Epistrophy; Well, You Needn't; Bemsha Swing, Thelonious -- they have the playful melodic logic of the most timeless children's songs). But it took tremendous intelligence and sophistication to arrive at that seeming simplicity" (Keepnews 72).

Monk's artistic vision was very strong. He knew exactly what he wanted to play and how he wanted to play it. His playing was so unique and so self-contained that many jazz musicians and listeners didn't know what to make of it. He did not let this affect his music, though. He remained true to his vision throughout his entire career, even in the most trying times. He was confident in himself and his playing style, and that is what kept him playing, even when almost no one understood him. "It also took tremendous courage and self-confidence to remain true to a musical vision that initially struck most listeners as simple-minded or even inept" (Keepnews 72).

Monk reminded the jazz world that minimal could be beautiful. "In terms of influence, while that great majority of pianists always went to play the maximum number of notes, the select few who have followed Monk are more thoughtful and thought-provoking" (Williams 346).

Monk's use of harmony and rhythm was as unique as his use of space and simplicity. Monk used chord substitutions frequently. He incorporated tight, discordant tone clusters into his playing, and these helped him produce his angular sound. Space was a very important part of his rhythms, which were complex and unique. Monk integrated harmony and rhythm into his compositions and performances in unconventional, sometimes unprecedented ways.

During Monk's time, many bebop players were playing fast, smooth rhythms, while Monk's rhythms were sparse and separated. "Monk's sense of rhythm was like no one else's, in his writing or his execution" (Santoro 499). The contrast between Monk's simple, rough playing and the beboppers' sophisticated, smooth style was important to jazz. "[Monk] was very angular, and in a lot of ways he was kind of rough, but I don't think that's bad. I think if anything that was needed in jazz at that time, because all the other pianists were focusing on Bud Powell's kind-of `streamlined' approach to jazz. So you needed a spokesman of a whole other viewpoint" (Heller).

Like the rest of Monk's new ideas, his innovative conception of harmony and rhythm was too far removed from the mainstream of jazz for some to understand and accept. "His eccentricities were more publicized than his performances, and his dissonant and angular style with its advanced rhythmic and harmonic effects was appreciated by only a few listeners and fellow musicians" (Current Biography Yearbook 294).

Just as Monk's minimal style helped him personalize the pieces he played, Monk's use of discordant harmonies and unconventional rhythms helped him to redefine a composition in his own way. Monk put it this way: "Jazz is my adventure. I'm after new chords, new ways of syncopating, new figurations, new runs. How to use notes differently, that's it. Just how to use notes differently" (Goldberg 49).

Monk's compositions are his lasting contribution to jazz. His pieces are some of the most well-known and often-played in jazz. Monk's compositions contain most of the elements that made him a great performer. Monk seamlessly integrates space into his compositions just as he does into his performances. His composed melodies are simple, direct, and elegant in the same ways as his playing.

Monk explored musical areas that were previously undiscovered, and that's what makes his compositions so memorable. Jazz critic John S. Wilson wrote: "[Monk] has created a body of pieces that have seeped into the bloodstream of jazz, which bear the unmistakable stamp of his extremely personal view of melody and structure and which, in the brief span of ten years, have lost their original, jarring, eccentric quality to take on the comfortable familiarity of a pair of old shoes" (Current Biography Yearbook 295).

In his compositions Monk again departed from his fellow jazz musicians. "Monk's tunes and improvising attack both differ drastically from those of his bebopper peers like Charlie Parker and Bud Powell" (Santoro 498). Many bebop pieces were just chord a few chord changes, so the character of the piece depended almost entirely on the performer. The piece had no unique character by itself.

Monk's compostions were quite the opposite. Monk used simple, memorable melodies and unique rhythms and harmonies in his pieces. "Where many bebop songs are just `improvising vehicles,' Monk's songs really hold up as songs that you would sing" (Heller).

Each composition had a certain individuality, almost a personality, and to bring that out the performer had to utilize the melody, rhythm, and harmony of the piece. This made many of Monk's pieces quite difficult to play well, despite their seemingly simple qualities. "So complicated are some of Monk's opaquely titled compositions, with their space-filled structure and advanced harmonic language, that only one other musician besides himself - Bud Powell - could really play them" (Current Biography Yearbook 295).

Monk's compositions are his most obvious contribution to jazz, and Monk continues to influence many jazz musicians through his compositions. As a whole, Monk's compositions embody his unique use of harmony, rhythm and space. "I would say [Monk's] biggest influence in terms of what people play is to have written a bunch of tunes that form a musical vocabulary" (Heller). The jazz world has learned much from what Monk left behind.

Thelonious Monk gave jazz performers and listeners a new vocabulary to work with. His influence, as a composer and as a performer, is very large. Monk used space, harmony, and rhythm in way that had never been used before. He also left behind a strong collection of compositions, most of which are still played today. Monk gave jazz players and listeners a new way to look at jazz, and that is why he will be remembered.

Bibliography

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"Monk's music: Wrong is Right."

Down Beat December 1982:

72.

Santoro, Gene.

"Master of Space."

The Nation. April 11, 1994:

498-500.

Straight No Chaser.

Bruce Ricker and Charlotte Zwerin, Producers.

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1988.

"Monk, Thelonious (Sphere)."

Current Biography Yearbook 1964:

294-296.

Williams, Martin.

"What Kind of Composer Was Thelonious Monk?"

Musical Quarterly Fall 1992:

433-441.

Carr, Ian, Digby Fairweather, and Brian Priestley.

Jazz: The Essential Companion.

New York: Prentice Hall Press,

1988.

Heller, Skip.

Freelance Music Writer.

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Goldberg, Joe.

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