Thelonious Monk
Piano Solo on
Functional

About

Thelonious Monk's piano solo is the sole improvisation on this recording. Spanning 19 choruses of the 12-bar Blues form at a relaxed 73 BPM with a swing feel in B♭. Without the presence of other musicians, Monk is free to explore the blues form at his own pace, and the result is a deeply personal statement that ranges from spare, ruminative passages to dense, dissonant chord clusters. Thelonious Monk was 39 to 40 years old at the time of this 1957 recording. Functional is a jazz composition by Thelonious Monk, written as a 12-bar blues that exemplifies his distinctive approach to harmony and melody.

Thelonious Monk was 39 to 40 years old at the time.