--- title: "Artist Spotlight: Thelonious Monk | American Jazz Museum" description: "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." canonical: https://americanjazzmuseum.org/artist-spotlights/thelonious-monk-in-walked-bud/ --- Artist Spotlight # Thelonious Monk By Houston Gonzales, Education Programs Manager October 13, 2026 ![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. > “Stop, you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re mistreating the greatest pianist in the world.” As the story goes, in 1945 police raided the Savoy Ballroom and arrested [Thelonious Monk](/artist-spotlights/artists/thelonious-monk/) for refusing to show his ID. This quote is what the legendary jazz pianist [Bud Powell](/artist-spotlights/artists/bud-powell/) had to say in defense of his friend. Attempting to stand up for Monk, Powell was struck on the head with a nightstick. This account by biographer Thomas Fitterling[1](#user-content-fn-1) leads many to believe this blow set off a struggle with mental illness that followed Powell for the rest of his life, though other accounts of the beating differ.[2](#user-content-fn-2) Many know Monk for his innovations. What is less known about Monk is his loyalty and gratitude toward his friends. Monk wrote the tune “In Walked Bud” as a tribute to Powell, and many biographies tie it to the Savoy incident.[3](#user-content-fn-3) He based it on the popular Irving Berlin song “Blue Skies.”[4](#user-content-fn-4) “In Walked Bud” is now a jazz standard that has been recorded by some of the greatest musicians across the tradition, including modern masters. Check out [Clarence Penn](/artist-spotlights/artists/clarence-penn/)’s version, recorded in 2012, alongside Monk’s 1947 recording, and listen for the difference in emotional content each artist draws out.[5](#user-content-fn-5) ## Listen ### In Walked Bud, Thelonious Monk Recorded 1947. Released on Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1 (Blue Note, 2013). * [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) ### In Walked Bud, Clarence Penn Recorded 2012. Released on Monk: The Lost Files (Origin Records, 2014). * [YouTube: In Walked Bud, Clarence Penn (opens in a new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8rPzH8XaLM) * [Spotify: In Walked Bud, Clarence Penn (opens in a new tab)](https://open.spotify.com/track/3G1BIACiFQTGDwy1WZD2MJ) * [Apple Music: In Walked Bud, Clarence Penn (opens in a new tab)](https://music.apple.com/us/album/in-walked-bud/923096772?i=923096803) ## Sources 1. Thomas Fitterling, _Thelonious Monk: His Life and Music_ (1997), as summarized in Wikipedia, [“In Walked Bud”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Walked_Bud). [↩](#user-content-fnref-1) 2. Wikipedia’s [“In Walked Bud”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Walked_Bud) notes that Miles Davis said a Savoy Ballroom bouncer beat Powell, while Dexter Gordon placed the beating in police custody in Philadelphia. Peter Pullman’s [chronology](https://www.wailthelifeofbudpowell.com/powell-chronology/) for _Wail: The Life of Bud Powell_ dates a beating by railroad police in Philadelphia to January 19, 1945. [↩](#user-content-fnref-2) 3. Wikipedia, [“In Walked Bud”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Walked_Bud): Monk composed it “as a tribute to friend and fellow jazz pianist Bud Powell,” and many biographies of Powell cite it as Monk’s gratitude for Powell’s defense of him. [↩](#user-content-fnref-3) 4. The tune follows the chord progression of “Blue Skies” (Irving Berlin, 1927); Gabriel Solis, _Monk’s Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making_ (2007), p. 149, cited in Wikipedia, [“In Walked Bud”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Walked_Bud). [↩](#user-content-fnref-4) 5. Monk recorded “In Walked Bud” for Blue Note on November 21, 1947 ([Thelonious Monk discography, jazzdisco.org](https://www.jazzdisco.org/thelonious-monk/discography/)). Penn’s version was recorded in 2012 and released in 2014 on _Monk: The Lost Files_ ([Origin Records](https://originarts.com/recordings/recording.php?TitleID=82674)). [↩](#user-content-fnref-5) [More Artist Spotlights](/artist-spotlights/)