T.S. Monk

Although T.S. Monk, born Thelonious Monk, Jr., spent years before committing fully to jazz, he had already compiled an extensive body of work across multiple genres. He began on trumpet and piano, then moved to drums at age 13 and received instruction from Max Roach. His initial public appearance came alongside his father, Thelonious Monk, during a 1970 television broadcast. Between 1970 and 1971 he traveled with Thelonious Monk’s quartet, after which he joined the fusion ensemble Natural Essence, performed with the Paul Jeffrey Big Band, and led an R&B outfit also named T.S. Monk that scored several hits. In 1986 he founded the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, an organization devoted to preserving his father’s legacy that additionally hosts an annual competition responsible for launching the careers of several winners. Involvement with the institute prompted his own return to jazz performance; he subsequently worked with Clifford Jordan’s big band and pianist Walter Davis. Eventually he assembled his own sextet, whose personnel has remained consistent since the late 1980s. The group specializes in rarely heard jazz compositions from the 1960s hard-bop period, rendered from precise transcriptions prepared by its trumpeter and arranger Don Sickler. As a drummer, Monk himself displays considerable skill and recalls the approach of Tony Williams.