Thelonious Monk quotes

Thelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer, recognized as one of the giants of modern jazz. His unique improvisational style and innovative compositions have had a profound influence on jazz music. He is celebrated for classics like "Round Midnight" and his enigmatic musical legacy. Here are 32 of his quotes:

All musicians are subconsciously mathematicians. (Thelonious Monk)
I don't know where it's going. Maybe it's going to hell. You can't make anything go anywhere. It just happens. View quote
Thelonious Monk
The piano ain't got no wrong notes. View quote
Thelonious Monk
I don't know what other people are doing - I just know about me. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Everybody in all countries tries to play jazz. View quote
Thelonious Monk
I never though much about race. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Which is the way to the toilet? View quote
Thelonious Monk
I guess, you know, if I didn't make it with the piano, I guess I would've been the biggest bum. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Everyone is a genius at being themselves. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Everyone is influenced by everybody but you bring it down home the way you feel it. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Monk enters the studio and starts playing, the rest of the musicians join him. After few minutes of play the technician from his room shouts and stops the band. ] Monk: "Why did we stop?" Technician: "I thought you were rehearsing." Monk: "Aren't we always?" (Thelonious Monk)
We have two kids, my wife and myself. View quote
Thelonious Monk
There are no wrong notes; some are just more right than others. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Sometimes it's to your advantage for people to think you're crazy. View quote
Thelonious Monk
I say, play your own way. Don't play what the public want - you play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doing - even if it does take them fifteen, twenty years. View quote
Thelonious Monk
The loudest noise in the world is silence. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Jazz is freedom. You think about that. View quote
Thelonious Monk
When I was a kid, some of the guys would try to get me to hate white people for what they've been doing to Negroes, and for a while I tried real hard. But every time I got to hating them, some white guy would come along and mess the whole thing up. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Jazz is my adventure. I'm after new chords, new ways of syncopating, new figures, new runs. How to use notes differently. That's it. Just using notes differently. View quote
Thelonious Monk
Just because you're not a drummer doesn't mean you don't have to keep time. View quote
Thelonious Monk
I don't have a definition of Jazz. You're just supposed to know it when you hear it. (Thelonious Monk)
A genius is the one most like himself. View quote
Thelonious Monk
It's always night, or we wouldn't need light. View quote
Thelonious Monk
I have to listen to New York; I live there. I wasn't born there, but I've been living there all my life. View quote
Thelonious Monk
I always believed in being myself. View quote
Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk - Image
Occupation: American Musician
Born: October 10, 1917
Died: February 17, 1982
Quotes count: 32
Wikipedia: Thelonious Monk

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