1 “My Mother Didn’t Want Me to Grow Up in North Carolina”
2 “What Is Jazz? New York, Man!”
3 “I Always Did Want to Play Piano”
5 “Why Can’t You Play Music Like the Ink Spots?”
6 “They Weren’t Giving Any Lectures”
7 “Since You Went Away I Missed You”
8 “I’m Trying to See If It’s a Hit”
9 “Dizzy and Bird Did Nothing for Me Musically”
10 “The George Washington of Bebop”
11 “It’s a Drag to Be in Jail”
14 “Sometimes I Play Things I Never Heard Myself”
16 “As Long as I Can Make a Living”
17 “People Have Tried to Put Me Off as Being Crazy”
18 “My Time for Fame Will Come”
19 “The Police Just Mess with You . . . for Nothing”
20 “Make Sure Them Tempos Are Right”
21 “Hell, I Did That Twenty-Five Years Ago”
23 “Maybe I’m a Major Influence”
24 “Everything Begins Here and Everything Ends Here”
25 “That’s a Drag Picture They’re Paintin’ of Me”
26 “Sometimes I Don’t Feel Like Talking”
27 “Let Someone Else Create Something New!”
28 “What Do I Have to Do? Play Myself to Death?”
Appendix A: A Technical Note on Monk’s Music
Appendix B: Records and Tapes in Thelonious Monk’s Personal Collection
Original Compositions by Thelonious Monk
Selected Recordings by Thelonious Monk