Melodious Thunk

(Psst, hey you. You can skip to the end if you just want the bottomline.)

Proceeding with my incursion into jazz music, I am now currently listening to some music by one Thelonious Monk. Weird name, right? From what I gather, during his life he was also quite fond of funny hats, and was possessed of an idiosyncratic manner, a compelling mixture of arrogance, introversion, and just plain eccentricity. 

Even to my untrained ear, the difference between his music and Ellington's is discernible. It's perhaps similar to the difference between "pop" music and "indie" music (disregarding any negative connotations of either term for the moment), in terms of innovation or oddity as well as accessibility. 

What do I mean? Ellington goes down smoothly, while Monk is somewhat more challenging. He emphasized dissonance, played quite percussively, made heavy use of pauses, and basically set out to write his own rules, both in his composition and piano playing. Of course, at present, decades later, his music might not seem quite as groundbreaking (i.e., odd) as some of the more experimental and "out there" musicians are producing (I'm looking at you, The Bad Plus!*).

Okay, enough pretending that I know what I'm talking about. Guys, basically, Thelonious Sphere Monk (what a name) was one of the earlier and most distinctive innovators in jazz music, and I have to say that the character and style of his music shows through even to casual listeners like me. 

*They're some of the only contemporary jazz musicians I've ever seriously listened to, and their music has always struck me as "weird" but also "interesting". Apparently, the trio "combines elements of modern avant-garde jazz with rock and pop influences" [wiki], whatever that means.

Bottomline: Hey, guys, Thelonious Monk made some pretty groovy, interesting (and I mean that in a really good way, okay) jazz music. Also, The Bad Plus is a contemporary group that makes music that's even more "interesting". They make good sounds, people.