Thelonious Monk - Tributes

Tributes

Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy performed as Monk's accompanist in 1960. Monk's tunes became a permanent part of his repertoire in concert and on albums. Lacy released several albums entirely focused on Monk's compositions including Reflections, School Days, Epistrophy, Eronel, Only Monk, and More Monk.

Gunther Schuller wrote the work "Variants on a Theme of Thelonious Monk" in 1960. It was later performed and recorded by other artists, including Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and Bill Evans.

Steely Dan's 1972 album Can't Buy A Thrill features the song "Midnite Cruiser," which appears to begin: "Thelonious, my old friend..." The actual lyric is: "Felonious, my old friend..."

Stevie Wonder wrote the song "Thelonious" which appears on Jeff Beck's 1975 album Blow by Blow.

In 1983, saxophonist Arthur Blythe's album Light Blue: Arthur Blythe Plays Thelonious Monk was released by Columbia Records.

Anthony Braxton recorded Six Monk's Compositions (1987) in 1987, and pianist Ran Blake recorded Epistrophy in 1991.

Record producer J Dilla produced the hip hop track "Thelonious" on rapper Common's album Like Water For Chocolate dedicated to Monk's music and memory and the influence of jazz on the underground hip hop community.

Round Midnight Variations is a collection of variations on the song "'Round Midnight" premiered in 2002. Composers contributing included Roberto Andreoni, Milton Babbitt, Alberto Barbero, Carlo Boccadoro, William Bolcom, David Crumb. George Crumb, Michael Daugherty, Filippo Del Corno, John Harbison, Joel Hoffman, Aaron Jay Kernis, Gerald Levinson, Tobias Picker, Matthew Quayle, Frederic Rzewski, Augusta Read Thomas and Michael Torke.

Free jazz pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and his band recorded every composition by Monk for Monk's Casino, released as a triple CD set in 2004.

Salim Ghazi Saeedi has dedicated a song entitled "For Thelonious, and His 88 Holy Names" to Thelonious Monk in his 2011 album, Human Encounter.