Dutch Jazz Heritage: ode to Thelonious Monk

Jazz and pop music

It goes without saying that The Concertgebouw and jazz & pop music make a perfect combination. The stages of both the Main Hall and the Recital Hall have borne witness to nearly the whole of jazz history. Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald have both performed here, as have Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. Famous pop stars and bands that have graced the stage of the Main Hall include Frank Zappa, the Doors and the Eagles, to name but a few. Legendary concerts, in the present as well as the past.

Dutch Jazz Heritage

With the series Dutch Jazz Heritage, the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, together with the Dutch Jazz Archive, puts the spotlight on legendary jazz moments and jazz artists. During this concert, pianist Thelonious Monk, also known as the 'High Priest of Bebop', is the turn. But Monk was more than that: he was a jazz innovator and created a very unique form of music that also extended beyond bebop.

Thelonious Monk Night Concert

Thelonious Monk: for years Dutch jazz lovers were eagerly awaiting his Dutch debut and on 15 April 1961 he finally came to Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The success was so great that organiser Lou van Rees promptly organised a second Monk concert, which also sold out in no time. Tonight in Het Concertgebouw the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and pianist Juraj Stanik will pay tribute to Thelonious Monk, one of the greatest jazz pianists ever. His legendary night concert in the Grote Zaal in 1961 will come to life again! The presentation will be in the hands of Frank Jochemsen.