Ugly Beauty is a composition by Thelonious Monk, written in 1967 and first recorded on November 14 of that year for the album Underground, released on Columbia Records in 1968. It holds a unique place in Monk's catalog as the only waltz he ever composed, written in 3/4 time with a 32-bar AABA structure. The title derives from the French expression jolie laide, meaning to find beauty in the unconventional, and the piece lives up to that philosophy through angular melodies, dissonant intervals, whole-tone scale elements, and flatted fifths that function as structural foundations rather than passing colors. Despite these challenging harmonic features, the composition reveals moments of genuine lyricism within a framework that conventional harmony textbooks would avoid. The waltz form becomes part of the compositional statement itself, as Monk navigates harmonically surprising territory while maintaining a gentle three-beat pulse throughout. Though not as widely performed as some of his most famous pieces like Epistrophy or Brilliant Corners, Ugly Beauty is considered by many to be the perfect encapsulation of Monk's artistic philosophy, where dissonance serves as a path to truth. On AllSolos, the tune appears on Stephen Riley's 2019 album I Remember You, featuring Riley on tenor saxophone alongside Vic Juris on electric guitar and Jay Anderson on acoustic bass.
