His poorly written birth certificate misspelled his first name as 'Thelious' or 'Thelius'.

Thelonious Sphere Monk was born two years after his sister Marion on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and was the son of Thelonious and Barbara Monk. Monk is one of five jazz musicians to have been featured on the cover of Time magazine (the others being Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Wynton Marsalis). He was also noted for an idiosyncratic habit during performances: while other musicians continued playing, Monk would stop, stand up, and dance for a few moments before returning to the piano. Monk was renowned for a distinct look which included suits, hats, and sunglasses. Monk's compositions and improvisations feature dissonances and angular melodic twists and are consistent with his unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of switched key releases, silences, and hesitations. Monk is the second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.

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'. Thelonious Sphere Monk ( / Оё Й™ Л€ l oКЉ n i Й™ s/, OctoВ вЂ“ February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Thelonious monk jazz