Thelonious Sphere Monk was an iconoclast of the jazz community, a brilliant composer/pianist whose relentlessly quirky music has been putting smiles on people's faces long after his death. While he played with many groups through the 1940s, it wasn't until '47 that Monk began his solo odyssey. Outside the Bebop mainstream, Monk was busy concocting his own brew of witty, angular melodies with unorthodox and difficult chord progressions, and deeply swinging, Stride-influenced rhythm. ...  [+]