To say that 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 greatest jazz musicians of all time, 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 at a young age and that is where he spent most of his life. His first experience playing the piano took place at the age of 5. A sort of child prodigy. During his teenage years, he dropped out of high school and acquired a job touring as an accompanist for a gospel singer. Around the early 1940s, he joined the house band at Minton's Playhouse, where he actively pursued his own sound and style. There, he eventually developed the style of jazz known as bebop and eventually created the sound called modern jazz. His first recorded record was made in 1944, but under a different name and it was not until 1947 that he began putting his name on his own records. During the next decade, Monk was not in the spotlight and did not receive much exposure. He was heavily criticized because of his playing style. Monk used interesting technique and people often considered him 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 married his longtime sweetheart and also had children with her. Things began to turn in his favor in the early 1950s as well, 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 skyrocket. His 1956 album, “Brilliant Corners” was considered his first big hit and what jump-started 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 around the world, but in 1973 he abruptly withdrew from the spotlight. Towards the end of his life, he suffered from mental illness and lived his life away from the world and remained alone. He died in February 1982 (Yanow). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first record I'm going to analyze is the 32-bar track, "Round Midnight," released in 1958. The track 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 phrase of the song is easily recognizable for a song like this. The chord progression is also phenomenal for this track. In his songs, Monk typically used split notes, 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 death, many artists performed some of his most famous and well-known songs, and this one in particular was used the most. The next song I chose was “Epistrophy” by Thelonius Monk. Interestingly enough, epistrophe is actually not a word, but an alteration of the word epistrophe, described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the “..