In this compilation, the author draws together a comprehensive reconstruction of Thelonious Monk’s performances and recordings. Woven through the chronological listing of Monk’s work is the story of his rise to acceptance as one of the key pianists and composers of jazz and his decline in health and popularity to his death in 1982. Following a prologue which attempts to summarise the career and man, the narrative discography covers Monk’s entire performance career. This is followed by appendixes listing all microgroove and post-micro-groove issues of Monk’s performances, all known commerically produced films and vidoes in which Monk took part, a listing of all his engagements from 1944 until his career petered out in the mid-1970s, and a bibliography. The work concludes with an index of the people, places, producers and radio and television programmes refered to or quoted in the main text, a listing of all musicains, vocalists and broadcast presenters who took part in the recordings or who played in Monk’s bands, an index of all the titles used for Monk’s tunes by other muscians and vocalists and a listing of all tunes played, together with their composers and, where relevent, lyricists.