I loved Celtic Folk music, African drums, Blues, Easy Listening, Jazz, Scat, Hip Hop, Soul, R&B, Funk, Disco, American Folk, Latin pop, Pop, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Oldies, Techno, Bluegrass, the list goes on. I love music. What I listen to depends on the mood but I love music. I would have to say my tastes are eclectic to say the least.
I don't know how I hadn't listened to Thelonious Monk before today or at least not consciously. He's so well known to Jazz. I love Mindy Abair's sax style and would just experiment in the Jazz genre. I'm no where near some kind of expert but I love this spontaneous style. Give this a listen. It's beautiful and wonderful music.
He is known for his "improvisational style". This is music I could listen to without pause. A habit of his would be in the middle of a performance leave his piano a moment and dance a few steps before returning to it. I just love that. I don't know much about him aside from listening to this album and a few others and a cursory google search. He only composed about 70 pieces (unlike say Duke Ellington who composed more than a thousand-source Wikipedia).
He suffered mental illness though it was not fully diagnosed. I note that because he created beautiful things and was perhaps a tortured person. He struggled with severe mania. That hits home for me. He has serious issues of imbalance and yet he had this amazing mind. He was excellent at chess and checkers and loved music. He was passionate about it and about getting others to understand it. These are qualities I appreciate. He was a talker.
Give this a listen. He was an excellent composer and musician.