North Carolina Jazz

Thelonious Monk is in the news, having just received a posthumous Pulitzer prize. We can’t let this opportunity pass without reminding our readers that Monk is a North Carolina native, born in Rocky Mount in 1917. He spent most of life in New York City and last performed in the state, according to the News & Observer, in 1970, with a ten-night stint at the Frog and Nightgown, a former jazz club on Medlin Drive in Raleigh.

Monk can be heard paired with another Tar Heel native on the landmark recently-discovered recording “Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall.” Coltrane was born in Hamlet, in Richmond County, in 1926.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *