Thelonious Monk

The Music Of Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk was a towering figure in the story of modern jazz. He was also one of the great originals in all of jazz history, with a unique piano style perfectly suited to his visionary approach to composition and improvisation. He is even better remembered as the composer of some of the classics of jazz: 'Round About Midnight and Blue Monk. For years regarded as a far-out eccentric, Monk has now taken his rightful place in the pantheon of jazz greats.

Monk's music is a challenge on any instrument, and particularly for fingerstyle guitar. Duck Baker draws on his experience performing and arranging many jazz styles, from ragtime to free jazz, in attempting to capture Monk's bittersweet harmonic feeling on the six strings of the guitar. Duck teaches arrangements of Blue Monk, Lulu's Back in Town, 'Round About Midnight and Light Blue. As a bonus, rare footage of Monk performing the first three tunes is included from a 1966 concert with his great quartet featuring Charlie Rouse.

Duck Baker's ability to clearly explain and demonstrate his arrangements in an engaging fashion has been noted by both critics and students of his instructional videos, as have his exceptional talents as a guitarist and arranger. The Music of Thelonious Monk Arranged for Fingerstyle Guitar is a unique DVD lesson that only Duck Baker could have put together.