Thelonious Sphere Monk was born on October 10th 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. By the age of 5 he was uprooted from NC and transplanted in New York City where he began playing piano. By the age of 13, he had won the weekly amateur contest at the Apollo Theater so many times that they barred him from entering again. He was only 19 when he joined the house band of Minton’s Playhouse, the Harlem jazz club where he played with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. For the next two decades, he experimented with and perfected the style of music he is credited with inventing: bebop. He recorded with John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy, The Bird, and Charlie Rouse.

To honor the significant influence that Thelonious Monk has had on music and celebrate his unique compositions, Duke U and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz will present “Following Monk” - a festival of 18 events over 6 weeks in North Carolina. ([More →])