Ben Franklin reported in his autobiography that he once spent the better part of a day sharpening an old ax, determined to return it to its original luster. He finally gave up, concluding that perhaps ...

This month we celebrate the birthday of one of the truly unique personalities in jazz: Thelonious Monk. Born on October 10, 1917, Monk created a style of improvisation and a repertoire of compositions ...

Some listeners operate under the misconception that pianist Thelonious Monk recorded his best work for producer Orrin Keepnews at Riverside Records, and the rest of his catalog is somehow considered a ...

A trumped-up drug conviction and draconian cabaret laws would rob Monk of his ability to perform in New York for several years following the Blue Note sessions. Greater exposure through associations ...

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews two new interpretations of Monk's complete works: Monk's Dreams, by pianist Frank Kimbrough, and Work, by guitarist Miles Okazaki. This is FRESH AIR. Two new ...

Monk’s Dream Local sculptor Yoshitomo Saito’s new bronze installation, Bemsha Swing in Denver, refers to the Thelonious Monk composition “Bemsha Swing,” in a funny way: via his own mystification at ...

Years ago, screenwriter-producer Peter Lord Moreland watched Straight No Chaser, the landmark 1988 documentary on bebop pianist-composer Thelonious Monk. Thus began a near-obsessive fascination with ...

It appears purely coincidental that Thelonious Monk’s posthumous Pulitzer Prize for music in 2006 came only two years before Bob Dylan was awarded a Pulitzer of his own. But these two very different ...

Get Access To Every Broadway Story Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click. Frank Carlberg has explored the music of ...

Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg and Todd Sickafoose will play the jazz music of Thelonious Monk and more on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Arcata Playhouse, 1251 Ninth St., Arcata. Tickets are $20 general and ...