“The Monk,” from Portraits in Jazz, by Valerie Capers
The Monk is approximately two pages long and is inspired by Thelonious Monk, an American jazz pianist; it is said to have heard the Monk play once was “to know his sound forever more.” The performer should take note of the open fifths and sevenths, biting seconds, off-balance accents, and chord clusters which are all fundamental elements of Monk’s sound. It would be helpful for a student to become familiar with Monk’s famous blues composition “Straight No Chaser” as it is musically quoted in bars 7-9.
Portraits of Jazz by Valerie Capers is a collection of 12 early intermediate to intermediate jazz style pieces published in 1976 by Aztec Diaz-Tec 800, and Oxford University Press in 1992. These pieces are inspired by or dedicated to a particular jazz musician or singer
Valerie Capers was born in 1935, and was introduced to music through her father’s ties to Fats Waller (American Jazz Pianist), and her brother’s performances in the Mongo Santamaria Band. She received her early education at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind and graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, with Bachelors and Masters degrees. Capers brings a wide scope of pianistic styles and concepts to her playing, drawing from jazz idols and keyboard masters alike.
Source
The Monk, performed by Reina Krumvieda