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Quiz about Monk
Quiz about Monk

Monk Trivia Quiz


No, this quiz isn't about USA Network's obsessive-compulsive cop, but about one of jazz's greatest pianist-composers, Thelonious Monk.

A multiple-choice quiz by tjoebigham. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
tjoebigham
Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
169,855
Updated
Jun 14 23
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
9 / 15
Plays
571
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
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Question 1 of 15
1. Where and when was Monk born? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Where did he and his mother settle? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Where did he study piano? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. What nightclub did he first perform at? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Of the jazz styles here, which one did Monk have a hand in helping to create? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. What tune did he play on his first recording? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. What composition wasn't his? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Monk named a composition of his for his wife.


Question 9 of 15
9. Who collaborated with him on his best-known work "Round Midnight"? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. What crime was Monk charged for? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. In 1964, Monk was on the cover of Newsweek.


Question 12 of 15
12. Of these four jazz legends, who is the one Monk never worked with? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. What European baroness was his friend and patron? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. When did Monk die? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. Finally, what was Monk's middle name? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Where and when was Monk born?

Answer: Royal Mountain, N.C., 1917

After his birth, his mother took her son up North.
2. Where did he and his mother settle?

Answer: San Juan Hill, N.Y.

San Juan Hill was in the West Eighties of New York City, where Monk grew up hearing the "stride" pianists of the early Twenties and discovered his skill at the piano.
3. Where did he study piano?

Answer: Juilliard

Monk's musical education was at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music.
4. What nightclub did he first perform at?

Answer: Minton's

The legendary yet infamous (for its racial segregation of its audience) Cotton Club was gone by the early Forties, when Monk began at Minton's. The Savoy Ballroom was best known for Swing music.
5. Of the jazz styles here, which one did Monk have a hand in helping to create?

Answer: Bebop

Dixieland had already seen its day and Swing was already swinging when Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and others created bebop, a more dissonant and rhythmic form of jazz. Fusion was started by Miles Davis.
6. What tune did he play on his first recording?

Answer: On The Bean

In the years ahead, Monk would be better known for his own compositions.
7. What composition wasn't his?

Answer: Ornithology

"Ornithology" was composed by Charlie "Bird" Parker. Jazz fan Clint Eastwood directed the biopic "Bird" and produced the documentary "Thelonoius Monk: Straight No Chaser"
8. Monk named a composition of his for his wife.

Answer: True

The dissonant and bluesy "Crepuscule with Nellie" was named for his wife, with whom he had a son, Thelonious, Jr.
9. Who collaborated with him on his best-known work "Round Midnight"?

Answer: Bertie Hanighen and Cootie Williams

Trumpeter Williams co-wrote the music with Monk and Hanighen wrote the lyrics. Perhaps the most recorded song in jazz history (Linda Ronstadt sang the lyrics on a recording) and a personal favorite of mine, it was the title of Bertrand Tavernier's film.
10. What crime was Monk charged for?

Answer: drug possession

It seems that Monk took the rap for fellow musician Bud Powell. He had his cabaret card, which gave him the right to perform, suspended for six years. All he could do was record.
11. In 1964, Monk was on the cover of Newsweek.

Answer: False

It was Time magazine that Monk was on the cover of.
12. Of these four jazz legends, who is the one Monk never worked with?

Answer: Duke Ellington

Monk started out with Gillespie's band and later teamed with Blakey and Coltrane, but never with Duke Ellington. (But what a team they would have made!)
13. What European baroness was his friend and patron?

Answer: Panonica de Koenigswarter

Bathory was the "female Dracula" who bathed in the blood of virgin girls in medieval times, Blixen is best known as writer Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa) and von Shtupp is from "Blazing Saddles"! Monk named a composition for the German-born noblewoman who became his friend and patron. (She in turn was named for a butterfly species!)
14. When did Monk die?

Answer: 1982

Monk was mourned throughout the jazz world and his legacy and influence continue to this day.
15. Finally, what was Monk's middle name?

Answer: Sphere

Yep, don't ask why, but his middle name WAS Sphere! Hope you enjoyed the quiz and are inspired to seek out and enjoy Monk's music!
Source: Author tjoebigham

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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