---
title: "Thelonious Monk | American Jazz Museum"
description: "Thelonious Monk (1917–1982). Pianist and composer whose angular, witty tunes, from “’Round Midnight” to “In Walked Bud,” became jazz standards."
canonical: https://americanjazzmuseum.org/artist-spotlights/artists/thelonious-monk/
---

Artist Spotlights

# Thelonious Monk

1917–1982. Pianist and composer whose angular, witty tunes, from “’Round Midnight” to “In Walked Bud,” became jazz standards.

![Thelonious Monk in a beret and horn-rimmed glasses, seated at a grand piano with his hands on the keys, looking toward the camera.](/_astro/monk-gottlieb-1947.ThKgATVQ_Z1DLjxK.webp)

[Portrait of Thelonious Monk, Minton’s Playhouse, New York, N.Y.](https://www.loc.gov/item/2023868072/). William P. Gottlieb, ca. Sept. 1947. William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress. Public domain.

## Featured in

*   [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.

## Listen

### In Walked Bud, Thelonious Monk

Recorded 1947. Released on Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1 (Blue Note, 2013). Discussed in [Artist Spotlight: Thelonious Monk](/artist-spotlights/thelonious-monk-in-walked-bud/).

*   [YouTube: In Walked Bud, Thelonious Monk (opens in a new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIdz11_E-vQ)
*   [Spotify: In Walked Bud, Thelonious Monk (opens in a new tab)](https://open.spotify.com/track/52JrOhDyRZHi7P6tVhSn0S)
*   [Apple Music: In Walked Bud, Thelonious Monk (opens in a new tab)](https://music.apple.com/us/album/in-walked-bud/1459444209?i=1459444218)

[All Artist Spotlights](/artist-spotlights/)