Thelonious Monk Festival

With its iconic melodies, insightful harmonic progressions, and complex but danceable rhythms, the music of Thelonious Monk offers limitless opportunity for improvisation and interpretation. Monk's music is loved all over the world, and because of its fundamental simplicity, musicians of all styles and backgrounds find kinship in it. This global exploration of Monk features the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Baqir Abbas, Hamilton de Holanda, and brand new Monk arrangements.

As part of our annual Thelonious Monk Festival, Gabe Schnider will celebrate Monk's work through a wide array of influences that highlight its reach in and beyond the world of jazz.

Thelonious Monk is a singular genius in the world of jazz. One such composition is the masterpiece "'Round Midnight," written when Monk was only 18 years old. Tonight, his music will be performed by two of the most exciting young pianists of the next generation of jazz: 13-year-old Indonesian sensation Joey Alexander, the first true child prodigy in the history of jazz; and New Orleans' Sullivan Fortner, recipient of the 2015 American Pianists Association's prestigious Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz honor.

Russell Hall has played at the top jazz venues in New York and around the world, working with a “who’s who” list of jazz greats, including filling in as bassist for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.