The pianist Thelonious Monk and bassist Charles Mingus were born and they died within a handful of years of each other. They both found early inspiration in Duke Ellington's music and had a large hand in shaping what we know to be modern jazz, yet the record shows their paths did not cross much.
It might be because they grew up on opposite coasts, Monk in New York, Mingus in Los Angeles. Monk, sometimes credited with inventing bebop (an assertion many would argue against), was known for a spare and percussive style of playing, which his compositions reflect. He played mostly in trios and small combos.
Mingus' music was, for lack of a better term, busier, layered with thick harmonies. He played in and composed for large ensembles, drawing comparisons to Ellington. But Monk and Mingus also had much in common, both using dissonance and angular melodies to create a new basis for jazz harmony.
