Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser", "Ruby, My Dear", "In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.
Monk at Minton's Playhouse, New York, 1947
Thelonious Monk at Minton's Playhouse, 1947
Thelonious Monk (Amsterdam, 1961)
Thelonious Monk, 1964
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities. For this reason it is an important tool of jazz musicians and composers for teaching and learning jazz theory and set arrangement, regardless of their main instrument. By extension the phrase 'jazz piano' can refer to similar techniques on any keyboard instrument.
Thelonious Monk in 1947
Bill Evans performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1978
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, with Henry Ragas on piano