LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Monk: John Coltrane
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Monk is believed to be the pianist featured on recordings Jerry Newman made around 1941 at Minton's Playhouse, the legendary Manhattan club where Monk was the house pianist. Monk's style at the time was described as "hard-swinging," with the addition of runs in the style of Art Tatum. Monk's stated influences include Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and other early stride pianists. Monk's unique piano style was largely perfected during his stint as the house pianist at Minton's in the early-to-mid 1940s, when he participated in the famous after-hours "cutting competitions" that featured most of the leading jazz soloists of the day. The Minton's scene was crucial in the formulation of the bebop genre and it brought Monk into close contact and collaboration with other leading exponents of bebop including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Milt Jackson.
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Many critics have hailed Monk as ingeniously plotted. True, the writers have done many of the episodes quite cleverly, but other entries been derivative. In particular, the two episodes featuring Monk's brother Ambrose (John Turturro) were essentially the same story. In both, the killer tries to reclaim evidence of a crime that has gotten away from him; Monk has to retrace the killer's steps and put together the crime from these clues. The episode "Red Headed Stranger", featuring country singer Willie Nelson, draws on several Columbo episodes including "Swan Song" (1974) in which guest star country singer Johnny Cash ("The Man in Black") played a country singer who murders his wife, and "A Deadly State of Mind" (1975) in which George Hamilton sets Lesley Ann Warren up for murder. Nelson returns as a voice on the tube in a later episode ("Mr.
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Monk has a brother, Ambrose (played by John Turturro), who has only left his house twice in the last 10 years due to his extreme agoraphobia. (In the episode where the house caught fire, "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies", Monk mentions that Ambrose had not left the house in 32 years.) Monk and Ambrose were estranged after Trudy's death because Ambrose never called Monk after her death. Monk didn't understand until Ambrose admits that he believed he caused Trudy's death -- Trudy was getting cough medicine for Ambrose and was in the store's garage when she was killed. After this admission, they started to bond again.
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John Coltrane