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Round Midnight: Thelonious Monk 1920-1982

Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 27 February 1982

AFTER BEING in a coma following a stroke Thelonious Monk died last week, and jazz lost one of the most timeless giants, a pianist and composer whose treatment of the basics of rhythm and harmony was so personal and idiosyncratic that it transcended styles and movements. It was just Monk's music, and it has fascinated everyone from the first bop musicians to today's most forward-looking cats.

Total word count of piece: 336

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