Editing Thelonious Monk (section)

==Biography==

===1917–1933: Early life===
Thelonious Sphere Monk was born on October 10, 1917,<ref>[[Robin Kelley|Kelley, Robin]] (2010). ''Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original''. London: JR Books. p. 1. The source identifies the date of Monk's fortieth birthday in 1957.</ref> in [[Rocky Mount, North Carolina]], the son of Thelonious (or Thelious) and Barbara Monk. His sister, Marion, had been born two years earlier. His birth certificate spelled his first name as "Thelious"<ref name="Solis 2007 19–20">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZqWxvNKGSYC&pg=PA19 |pages=19–20 |last=Solis |first=Gabriel |title=Monk's Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making |year=2007 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520940963}}</ref> and did not list his middle name, taken from his maternal grandfather, Sphere Batts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mathieson |first=Kenny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Azl-2jRD5B4C&pg=PT127 |page=127 |year=2012 |title=Giant Steps: Bebop and the Creators of Modern Jazz, 1945–65 |publisher=Canongate Books |isbn=9780857866172}}</ref> His brother, Thomas, was born in January 1920. In 1922, the family moved to the Phipps Houses, 243 West 63rd Street, in [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]; the neighborhood was known as [[San Juan Hill, Manhattan|San Juan Hill]] because of the many African-American veterans of the [[Spanish–American War]] who lived there (urban renewal displaced the long-time residents of the community, who saw their neighborhood replaced by the Amsterdam Housing Projects and [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]], though the Phipps Houses remained). Monk studied the [[trumpet]] briefly before switching to the piano at age nine, taking lessons from a neighbor, Alberta Simmons, who taught him in the [[Stride (music)|stride]] style of [[Fats Waller]], [[James P. Johnson]] and [[Eubie Blake]]. Monk's mother also taught him to play some hymns, and he would sometimes accompany her singing at church. He attended [[Stuyvesant High School]], a public school for gifted students, but did not graduate.<!-- Claims that Monk attended the Juilliard School are false, see talk. --><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/theloniousmonkli0000kell|url-access=registration|quote=thelonious monk stuyvesant.|title=Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original|first=Robin|last= Kelley|author-link=|publisher=Free Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-684-83190-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/theloniousmonkli0000kell/page/13 13], 31|access-date=November 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ku |first=Jaein |title=In Memoriam: Thelonious Monk |url=https://stuyspec.com/article/in-memoriam-thelonious-monk |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=stuyspec.com}}</ref>

For two years, Monk studied [[Classical music|classical]] piano under Simon Wolf, an Austrian-born pianist and violinist who had studied under [[Alfred Eugene Megerlin|Alfred Megerlin]], the concertmaster of the [[New York Philharmonic]]. Monk learned to play pieces by composers such as [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]], but his favorites were [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]] and [[Sergei Rachmaninoff|Rachmaninoff]]. The lessons were discontinued when it became clear that Monk's main focus was jazz.<ref name="auto1">Kelley, Robin (2009), p. 26.</ref>

===1933–1946: Early performing career===
Monk put his first band together at the age of 16, getting a few restaurant and school gigs.<ref>Kelley, Robin (2009), p. 35.</ref> At 17, Monk toured with an evangelist, playing the church organ, and in his late teens he began to find work playing jazz.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/10/thelonious-monks-quiet-slow-conquest-of-the-jazz-world/542937/|title=Thelonious Monk's Quiet, Slow Conquest of the World|last=Graham|first=David A.|date=October 18, 2017|work=[[The Atlantic]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518163803/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/10/thelonious-monks-quiet-slow-conquest-of-the-jazz-world/542937/|archive-date=May 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> In the early to mid-1940s, he was the house pianist at [[Minton's Playhouse]], a Manhattan nightclub.<ref name=":2" /> Much of Monk's style (in the Harlem [[Stride (music)|stride]] tradition) was developed while he performed at Minton's where he participated in after-hours [[cutting contest]]s, which featured many leading jazz soloists of the time. Monk's musical work at Minton's was crucial in the formulation of [[bebop]], which would be furthered by other musicians, including [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Charlie Christian]], [[Kenny Clarke]], [[Charlie Parker]], and, later, [[Miles Davis]].<ref name=":0" /> Monk is believed to be the pianist featured on recordings Jerry Newman made around 1941 at the club. Monk's style at this time was later described as "hard-swinging", with the addition of runs in the style of [[Art Tatum]]. Monk's stated influences included [[Duke Ellington]], James P. Johnson, and other early [[stride piano|stride pianists]]. According to the documentary ''[[Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser]]'', Monk lived in the same neighborhood in New York City as Johnson and knew him as a teenager.

In March 1943, Monk reported for his Army Induction physical, but was labeled by the Army psychiatrist as "psychiatric reject" and not inducted into the Armed Forces during WWII.<ref>Thelonious Monk The Life and Times of an American Original p.244</ref>

[[Mary Lou Williams]], who mentored Monk and his contemporaries, spoke of Monk's rich inventiveness in this period, and how such invention was vital for musicians, since at the time it was common for fellow musicians to incorporate overheard musical ideas into their own works without giving due credit. "So, the boppers worked out a music that was hard to steal. I'll say this for the 'leeches,' though: they tried. I've seen them in Minton's busily writing on their shirt cuffs or scribbling on the tablecloth. And even our own guys, I'm afraid, did not give Monk the credit he had coming. Why, they even stole his idea of the beret and bop glasses."<ref name=":0" />

In 1944, Monk cut his first commercial recordings with the [[Coleman Hawkins]] Quartet. Hawkins was one of the earliest established jazz musicians to promote Monk, and the pianist later returned the favor by inviting Hawkins to join him [[Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane|on a 1957 session]] with [[John Coltrane]].

===1947–1952: Lorraine Gordon===
[[File:Thelonious Monk, Minton's Playhouse, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947 (William P. Gottlieb 06221).jpg|left|thumb|Thelonious Monk at [[Minton's Playhouse]], 1947]]

In 1947, [[Ike Quebec]] introduced Monk to [[Lorraine Gordon]] and her first husband, [[Alfred Lion]], co-founder of <!-- Actually with Max Margulis rather than Francis Woolf. -->[[Blue Note Records]]. From then on, Gordon preached his genius to the jazz world with unrelenting passion. Shortly after meeting Gordon and Lion, Monk made his first recordings as a leader for Blue Note (later anthologized on ''[[Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1]]''*), which showcased his talents as a composer of original melodies for improvisation. [[Thelonious Monk Blue Note Sessions|Monk Blue Note Sessions]] were recorded between 1947 and 1952.

Monk married Nellie Smith in 1947, and on December 27, 1949, the couple had a son, [[T. S. Monk]] (called Toot), who became a jazz drummer. A daughter, Barbara (affectionately known as Boo-Boo), was born on September 5, 1953, and died of cancer in 1984.

In her autobiography, Gordon spoke of the utter lack of interest in Monk's recordings, which translated to poor sales. "I went to Harlem and those record stores didn't want Monk or me. I'll never forget one particular owner, I can still see him and his store on Seventh Avenue and 125th Street. 'He can't play lady, what are you doing up here? The guy has two left hands.' 'You just wait,' I'd say. 'This man's a genius, you don't know anything.{{'"}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Alive at the Village Vanguard: My Life in and Out of Jazz Time|url=https://archive.org/details/aliveatvillageva00gord|url-access=registration|last=Gordon|first=Lorraine|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|year=2006|isbn=978-1-61774-916-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aliveatvillageva00gord/page/63 63]–65}}</ref>

For [[Alfred Lion]], co-owner of [[Blue Note Records]], sales were a secondary consideration. [[Michael Cuscuna]] relates that Alfred Lion told him that there were three people in his life that when he heard them, he just flipped and had to record everything they did. The first was Monk, the second was [[Herbie Nichols]], and the third was [[Andrew Hill (jazz musician)|Andrew Hill]], where he didn't care how much money he made or lost. He just had to record this music.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thelonious Monk: Expert insights and analysis of the artist & albums|url=https://www.mosaicrecords.com/the-great-jazz-artists/thelonious-monk/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=Mosaic Records - Home for Jazz fans!|language=en-US}}</ref>

Due to Monk's reticence, Gordon became his mouthpiece to the public. In February 1948, she wrote to [[Ralph Ingersoll (PM publisher)|Ralph Ingersoll]], the editor of the newspaper ''[[PM (newspaper)|PM]],'' and described Monk as "a genius living here in the heart of New York, whom nobody knows". As a result, one of ''PM''<nowiki/>'s best writers visited Monk to do a feature on him, but Monk wouldn't speak to the reporter unless Gordon was in the room with him. In September of the same year, Lorraine approached [[Max Gordon (Village Vanguard founder)|Max Gordon]], the owner and founder of the [[Village Vanguard]] and secured Monk his first gig there. Monk was showcased at the club for a week, but not a single person came.<ref name=":1" />

In August 1951, New York City police searched a parked car occupied by Monk and his friend [[Bud Powell]]. They found narcotics in the car, presumed to have belonged to Powell. Monk refused to testify against his friend, so the police confiscated his [[New York City Cabaret Card]]. Without this, Monk was nominally unable to play in any New York venue where liquor was served. Although this severely restricted his ability to perform for several years, a coterie of musicians led by [[Randy Weston]] introduced Monk to Black-owned bars and clubs in [[Brooklyn]] that flouted the law, enabling the pianist to play little-advertised, one-night engagements throughout the borough with a modicum of regularity. Monk spent most of the early and mid-1950s composing and performing at theaters, outer borough clubs and out-of-town venues.

===1952–1954: Prestige Records===
After intermittent recording sessions for [[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]] from 1947 to 1952, Monk was under contract to [[Prestige Records]] for the following two years. With Prestige, he cut several highly significant, but at the time under-recognized, albums, including collaborations with the saxophonist [[Sonny Rollins]] and the drummers [[Art Blakey]] and [[Max Roach]]. In 1954, Monk participated in a Christmas Eve session, which produced most of the albums ''[[Bags' Groove]]'' and ''[[Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants]]'' by Davis. In his autobiography, ''Miles'', Davis claimed that the alleged anger and tension between them did not take place and that the claims of blows being exchanged were "rumors" and a "misunderstanding".<ref>Davis, Miles, with [[Quincy Troupe]], ''[[Miles: The Autobiography]]'', 1989, p. 80.</ref>

In 1954, Monk paid his first visit to Paris. As well as performing at concerts, he recorded a solo piano session for French radio (later issued as an album by [[Disques Vogue]]). Backstage, Mary Lou Williams introduced him to Baroness [[Pannonica de Koenigswarter|Pannonica "Nica" de Koenigswarter]], a member of the [[Rothschild family]] and a patroness of several New York City jazz musicians. She was a close friend for the rest of Monk's life: she "served as a surrogate wife right alongside Monk's equally devoted actual wife, Nellie"<ref name="singer">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/arts/music/19sing.html |title=The Baroness of Jazz |last=Singer |first=Barry |date=October 17, 2008| website=NY Times |access-date=October 12, 2020}}</ref> and "paid Monk's bills, dragged him to an endless array of doctors, put him and his family up in her own home and, when necessary, helped Nellie institutionalize him. In 1958, Monk and the baroness were stopped by the police in Delaware. When a small amount of marijuana was discovered, she took the rap for her friend and even served a few nights in jail."<ref name="singer" />

===1955–1961: Riverside Records===
{{see also|Misterioso (Thelonious Monk album)}}
[[File:Nachtconcert van Thelonious Monk in het Concertgebouw, Bestanddeelnr 912-3529.jpg|thumb|Thelonious Monk <br>(Amsterdam, 1961)]]
By the time of his signing to [[Riverside Records|Riverside]], Monk was highly regarded by his peers and by some critics, but his records remained poor sellers and his music was still regarded as too "difficult" for more mainstream acceptance. Indeed, with Monk's consent, Riverside had managed to buy out his previous Prestige contract for a mere $108.24 ($1,273.44 in 2024). He willingly recorded two albums of jazz standards as a means of increasing his profile: ''[[Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington]]'' (1955) and ''[[The Unique Thelonious Monk]]'' (1956).

On ''[[Brilliant Corners]]'', recorded in late 1956, Monk mainly performed his own music. The complex title track, which featured Rollins, was so difficult to play that the final version had to be edited together from multiple takes. The album, however, was largely regarded as the first commercial success for Monk.

After having his [[New York City Cabaret Card|cabaret card]] restored, Monk relaunched his New York career with a landmark six-month residency at the [[Five Spot]] Cafe in the East Village neighborhood of New York beginning in June 1957,<ref name=":2" /> leading a quartet with [[John Coltrane]] on tenor saxophone, [[Wilbur Ware]] on bass, and [[Shadow Wilson]] on drums. Little of this group's music was documented owing to contractual problems: Coltrane was signed to Prestige at the time, but Monk refused to return to his former label. One studio session by the quartet was made for Riverside, three tunes which [[Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane|were not released until 1961]] by the subsidiary label [[Jazzland Records (1960)|Jazzland]] along with outtakes from a larger group recording with Coltrane and Hawkins, those results appearing in 1957 as the album ''[[Monk's Music]]''. An amateur recording from the Five Spot (a later September 1958 reunion with Coltrane sitting in for [[Johnny Griffin]]) was issued on Blue Note in 1993; and a recording of the quartet performing at a [[Carnegie Hall]] concert on November 29 was recorded in high fidelity by [[Voice of America]] engineers, unearthed in the collection of the Library of Congress [[Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall|and released by Blue Note]] in 2005.

"Crepuscule with Nellie", recorded in 1957, was referred to by biographer [[Robin D. G. Kelley]] as Monk's "only through-composed composition, meaning that there is no improvising. It is Monk's concerto, if you will, and in some ways it speaks for itself. But he wrote it very, very carefully and very deliberately and really struggled to make it sound the way it sounds. ... it was his love song for Nellie".<ref name="FA">[https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=132133171 "Looking At The Life And Times Of Thelonious Monk"], transcript of interview with Robin D. G. Kelley by [[Terry Gross]] on ''[[Fresh Air]]'', [[NPR]]; conducted in 2009, replayed December 17, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010.</ref>

The Five Spot residency ended Christmas 1957; Coltrane left to rejoin Davis's group, and the band was effectively disbanded. Monk did not form another long-term band until June 1958 when he began a second residency at the Five Spot, again with a quartet, this time with Griffin ([[Charlie Rouse]] later) on tenor, [[Ahmed Abdul-Malik]] on bass, and [[Roy Haynes]] on drums.

On October 15, 1958, en route to a week-long engagement for the quartet at the Comedy Club in [[Baltimore, Maryland]], Monk and de Koenigswarter were detained by police in [[Wilmington, Delaware]]. When Monk refused to answer questions or cooperate with the policemen, they beat him with a [[blackjack (weapon)|blackjack]]. Although they had authorization to search the vehicle and found narcotics in suitcases held in the trunk of the Baroness's car, Judge Christie of the [[Delaware Superior Court]] ruled that the unlawful detention of the pair, and the beating of Monk, rendered the consent to the search void as it was given under duress.<ref>''State v. De Koenigswarter'', 177 A.2d 344 (Del. Super. 1962).</ref>

===1962–1970: Columbia Records===
[[File:Thelonious Monk (jazzpianist) (Kop) gaf nachtconcert in Concertgebouw te Amsterd, Bestanddeelnr 916-0544.jpg|left|thumb|Thelonious Monk, 1964]]

After extended negotiations, Monk signed in 1962 with [[Columbia Records]], one of the big four American record labels of the day. Monk's relationship with Riverside had soured over disagreements concerning royalty payments and had concluded with two European live albums; he had not recorded an album for Riverside since April 1960.

Working with producer [[Teo Macero]] on his debut for Columbia,<ref>Marmorstein, Gary. ''The Label The Story of Columbia Records.'' New York: Thunder's Mouth, 2007, pp. 314–315.</ref> the sessions in the first week of November had a lineup that had been with him for two years: tenor saxophonist Rouse (who worked regularly with Monk from 1959 to 1970), bassist [[John Ore]], and drummer [[Frankie Dunlop]]. ''[[Monk's Dream (Thelonious Monk album)|Monk's Dream]]'', his first Columbia album, was released in 1963.

Columbia's resources allowed Monk to receive more promotion than earlier in his career. ''Monk's Dream'' became the best-selling LP of his lifetime,<ref>Monk, Thelonious. ''Monk's Dream.'' Columbia reissue CK 63536, 2002. Liner notes, p. 8.</ref> and on February 28, 1964, he appeared on the cover of ''[[Time magazine|Time]]'' magazine, being featured in the article "The Loneliest Monk".<ref>{{cite magazine
  | title = The Loneliest Monk
  | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
  | volume = 83
  | issue = 9
  | date = February 28, 1964
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873856,00.html
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071122193839/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873856,00.html
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = November 22, 2007
  | access-date =November 12, 2007
| author = Gabbard, Krin
}}</ref> The cover article was originally intended to run in November 1963, but it was delayed due to the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination of President John F. Kennedy]].<ref name=":2" /> According to biographer Kelley, the 1964 ''Time'' appearance came because "[[Barry Farrell (journalist)|Barry Farrell]], who wrote the cover story, wanted to write about a jazz musician and almost by default Monk was chosen, because they thought [[Ray Charles]] and Miles Davis were too controversial. ... [Monk] wasn't so political. ... Of course, I challenge that [in the biography]," Kelley wrote.<ref name="FA" />

[[File:Thelonius Monk at the Village Gate (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Monk at the [[Village Gate]], 1968]]

Monk continued to record studio albums, including ''[[Criss-Cross (album)|Criss Cross]]'', also in 1963, and ''[[Underground (Thelonious Monk album)|Underground]]'', in 1968. But by the Columbia years his compositional output was limited, and only his final Columbia studio record, ''Underground'', featured a substantial number of new tunes, including his only [[Triple time|{{music|time|3|4}} time]] piece, "Ugly Beauty".

As had been the case with Riverside, his period with Columbia contains multiple live albums, including ''[[Miles and Monk at Newport]]'' (1963), ''[[Live at the It Club]]'', and ''[[Live at the Jazz Workshop]]'', the latter two recorded in 1964, the last not being released until 1982. After the departure of Ore and Dunlop, the remainder of the rhythm section in Monk's quartet during the bulk of his Columbia period was [[Larry Gales]] on bass and [[Ben Riley]] on drums, both of whom joined in 1964. Along with Rouse, they remained with Monk for over four years, his longest-serving band.

In 1968, Monk, Gales, Rouse, and Riley played a concert at Palo Alto High School in the San Francisco Bay Area, at the invitation of a 16-year-old student charged with organizing school dances. This resulted in the quartet's final recording, ''[[Thelonious Monk discography#On other labels|Palo Alto]]'' (2020).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldsby |first1=John |title=Jazz Concepts: High School Jazz |url=https://bassmagazine.com/lessons/jazz-concepts-high-school-jazz |newspaper=Bass Magazine - the Future of Bass |date=November 11, 2020|access-date= March 31, 2022}}</ref>

===1971–1982: Later life and death===
Monk had disappeared from the scene by the mid-1970s for health reasons and made only a small number of appearances during the final decade of his life. His last studio recordings as a leader were made in November 1971 for the English [[Black Lion Records|Black Lion]] label, near the end of a worldwide tour with the Giants of Jazz, a group which included Gillespie, [[Kai Winding]], [[Sonny Stitt]], [[Al McKibbon]], and [[Art Blakey]]. Bassist McKibbon, who had known Monk for over twenty years and played on his final tour in 1971, later said: "On that tour, Monk said about two words. I mean literally maybe two words. He didn't say 'Good morning,' 'Goodnight,' 'What time?' Nothing. Why, I don't know. He sent word back after the tour was over that the reason he couldn't communicate or play was that Art Blakey and I were so ugly."<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Voce
  | first = Steve
  | title = Obituary: Al McKibbon
  | work = [[The Independent]]
  | publisher=Findarticles.com
  | date = August 1, 2005
| url = http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050801/ai_n14828122
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070311052203/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050801/ai_n14828122
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = March 11, 2007
| access-date =November 12, 2007
}}</ref>  A different side of Monk is revealed in [[Lewis Porter]]'s biography ''John Coltrane: His Life and Music''; Coltrane states: "Monk is exactly the opposite of Miles [Davis]: he talks about music all the time, and he wants so much for you to understand that if, by chance, you ask him something, he'll spend hours if necessary to explain it to you."<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Porter
  | first = Lewis
  | author-link = Lewis Porter
  | title = John Coltrane: His Life and Music
  | publisher = [[University of Michigan Press]]
  | year = 1998
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/johncoltranehisl00port/page/109 109]
  | isbn = 0-472-10161-7
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/johncoltranehisl00port/page/109
  }}</ref> Blakey reports that Monk was excellent at both chess and [[draughts|checkers]].<ref>Litweiler, John B., "Art Blakey: Bu's Delights and Laments," ''[[DownBeat]]'' magazine, March 25, 1976.</ref>

The documentary film ''[[Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser]]'' (1988) attributes Monk's quirky behavior to mental illness. In the film, Monk's son says that his father sometimes did not recognize him, and he reports that Monk was hospitalized on several occasions owing to an unspecified mental illness that worsened in the late 1960s. No reports or diagnoses were ever publicized, but Monk would often become excited for two or three days, then pace for days after that, after which he would withdraw and stop speaking. Doctors recommended [[electroconvulsive therapy]] as a treatment option for Monk's illness, but his family would not allow it; [[antipsychotic]]s and [[Lithium pharmacology|lithium]] were prescribed instead.<ref name="Gabbard">{{cite journal
  | last = Gabbard
  | first = Krin
  | title = Evidence: Monk as Documentary Subject
  | journal = Black Music Research Journal
  | volume = 19
  | issue = 2
  | pages = 207–225
  | publisher =  Center for Black Music Research&nbsp;— Columbia College Chicago
  | date =Autumn 1999
  | doi = 10.2307/779343
  | jstor = 779343 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
  | author = Spence, Sean A
  | title = Thelonious Monk: His Life and Music
  | journal = [[British Medical Journal]]
  | volume = 317
  | issue = 7166
  | pages = 1162A
  | publisher =  BMJ Publishing Group
  | date = October 24, 1998
| pmc = 1114134
| pmid=9784478
  | doi=10.1136/bmj.317.7166.1162a
}}</ref>  Other theories abound: [[Leslie Gourse]], author of the book ''Straight, No Chaser: The Life and Genius of Thelonious Monk'' (1997), reported that at least one of Monk's psychiatrists failed to find evidence of [[manic depression]] ([[bipolar disorder]]) or [[schizophrenia]]. Another doctor maintains that Monk was misdiagnosed and prescribed drugs during his hospital stay that may have caused brain damage.<ref name="Gabbard" />

As his health declined, Monk's last six years were spent as a guest in the [[Weehawken, New Jersey]], home of his long-standing patron and friend [[Pannonica de Koenigswarter]], who nursed Monk during his final illness. She proved to be a steadfast presence, as did his own wife Nellie, especially as his life descended into further isolation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/theloniousmonkre00robv|url-access=registration|title=The Thelonious Monk Reader|last=Bliek|first=Rob van der|date=February 22, 2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199761470|language=en}}</ref> Monk did not play the piano during this time, even though one was present in his room, and he spoke to few visitors. He died of a stroke on February 17, 1982, and was buried in [[Ferncliff Cemetery]] (Grave 405, Hillcrest 1 section) at [[Hartsdale, New York]]. [[File:Thelonious Monk Grave Marker.jpg|thumb|Thelonious Monk, his daughter and wife, at Ferndale Cemetery, Westchester, New York.]]

===Posthumous myth: Monk at Juilliard===
There have been numerous published references since the 1980s in Monk biographies claiming that he attended the [[Juilliard School| Juilliard School of Music]],<ref>Publications claiming Monk attended Juilliard include Alyn Shipland: ''Jazz Makers: Vanguards of Sound'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2002, p. 153; Douglas K. Ramsey: ''Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music & Some of Its Makers'', [[University of Arkansas Press]], 1989, p. 154; ''[[Encyclopedia Americana]]'', Volume 19, 1999, p. 370, et al.</ref> an error that continues to be disseminated in online biographies of Monk.<ref>A fragmentary list of websites claiming Monk attended Juilliard includes [https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/monk-thelonious-sphere encyclopedia.com], [https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/monk-thelonious-1917-1982/ BlackPast], et al.</ref> At Monk's funeral service in 1982, it was mentioned in his eulogy that he took classes in harmony and arrangement at Juilliard.<ref>Fitterling, Thomas: ''Thelonious Monk: His Life and Music'', Berkeley Hills Books, 1997, p. 25.</ref> In the 1988 documentary film ''Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser'', [[Samuel E. Wright]] narrates that "Monk began playing piano without formal training. Later, he took lessons and studied music theory at the Juilliard School of Music."<ref>See film ''Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser'', from 03:20.</ref>

The complete lack of documented evidence connecting Monk with attending Juilliard was noted by Monk biographer Thomas Fitterling in the first German edition of his Monk biography published in 1987.<ref name="auto">Fitterling (1997), p. 26.</ref> The Juilliard canard may have its early source in the fact that Monk's sister Marion thought that her piano teacher, a Mr. Wolfe (sic), who briefly taught Thelonious around 1930, may have been connected to Juilliard as a teacher or student.<ref>Gourse, Leslie: ''Straight no Chaser: The Life and Genius of Thelonious Monk'', London: Books with Attitude, 1997, p. 7.</ref> In fact, the Monk family piano teacher had been trained by the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic and has no known connection to Juilliard.<ref name="auto1"/> Monk biographer Laurent de Wilde believed that the apocryphal Juilliard story may have stemmed from Monk's late 1950s collaboration with Juilliard instructor [[Hall Overton]].<ref name="auto"/> The main source of the Juilliard misunderstanding is probably that Monk participated in a music contest {{circa|1942}}–1943 at the Columbus Hill Community Center in his neighborhood, which had a Juilliard scholarship as the first prize. Monk entered the contest but placed second and thus failed to get the scholarship. According to Monk's wife Nellie, when the prize winner later encountered Monk during a 1958 engagement and told him that Monk should rightfully have been awarded the Juilliard scholarship, Monk replied: "I'm glad I didn't go to the conservatory. Probably would've ruined me."<ref>Kelley, Robin (2010), p. 30.</ref>