His playing sounded rough and angular in comparison to someone like his friend Bud Powell. ![]() Monk, in contrast, embraced space and simplicity in his playing and was able to outline his pieces with a minimal amount of notes. Many bebop players of Monk’s time were playing fast, smooth rhythms, trying to fit in the maximum number of notes. His playing was so unique and so self-contained that many jazz musicians and listeners didn’t know what to make of it. He knew exactly what he wanted to play and how he wanted to play it. Some people speculate that a reason for his sour harmonies are a result of early attempts at playing stride when his hands were still too small to hit a clean octave. ![]() By using uncommon substitutions and displacing the harmonic rhythm, Monk’s chords have a sense of deliberate conflict. While Parker and Gillespie liked to hear these types of chord sequences as background for their solos, Monk seems to have taken Tatum’s approach to another level. Many of Monk’s harmonic ideas were influenced by Art Tatum, whose chords were strengthened by the use of varied voicings, added notes, passing chords and substitutions. Unusual approaches to harmony, melody, and rhythm give Monk a particular asymmetry that continues to be a heavy influence on the music scene. Thelonious Monk is always mentioned with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie as a founder of modern jazz, but Monk’s style is not at all like the other musicians of his time. ![]() Thelonious Monk Quartet’s 1963 album on Columbia Records.
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