---
title: "Artist Spotlights | American Jazz Museum"
description: "Short pieces from the museum’s education program on the artists behind the music, each with recordings to hear for yourself."
canonical: https://americanjazzmuseum.org/artist-spotlights/
---

Education program

# Artist Spotlights

Short pieces from the museum’s education program on the artists behind the music, each with recordings to hear for yourself.

## Latest spotlights

*   [Artist Spotlight: Thelonious Monk](/artist-spotlights/thelonious-monk-in-walked-bud/) — October 13, 2026  
    As one story goes, Bud Powell took a police nightstick defending Thelonious Monk, and Monk wrote “In Walked Bud” for his friend. Hear Monk’s 1947 recording beside Clarence Penn’s from 2012.

## Artists A–Z

*   [Thelonious Monk](/artist-spotlights/artists/thelonious-monk/) (1917–1982)
*   [Clarence Penn](/artist-spotlights/artists/clarence-penn/) (Born 1968)
*   [Bud Powell](/artist-spotlights/artists/bud-powell/) (1924–1966)