This spread was designed for the funky Mr. Thelonious Monk. I hand drew the type for the title and tried to have fun with the layout and elements within. I tried to make it hip and funky because that's how Monk was.

2. With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music
alet alone modern culture--simply hasn’t been the same.
Recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of
any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original
sound that even his most devoted followers have been
unable to successfully imitate. His musical vision was both
ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition, spanning
the entire history of the music from the “stride” masters
of James P. Johnson and Willie “the Lion” Smith to the
tonal freedom and kinetics of the “avant garde.” And he
shares with Edward “Duke” Ellington the distinction of
being one of the century’s greatest American composers.
At the same time, his commitment to originality in all
aspects of life—in fashion, in his creative use of language
and economy of words, in his biting humor, even in the
Despite his contribution to the early development of
way he danced away from the piano—has led fans and
modern jazz, Monk remained fairly marginal during
detractors alike to call him “eccentric,” “mad” or even
the 1940s and early 1950s. Besides occasional gigs with
“taciturn.” Consequently, Monk has become perhaps the
bands led by Kenny Clarke, Lucky Millinder, Kermit
most talked about and least understood artist in history.
Scott, and Skippy Williams, in 1944 tenor saxophonist
Whereas most pianists of the bebop era played sparse
Coleman Hawkins was the first to hire Monk for a
chords in the left hand and emphasized fast, even eighth
lengthy engagement and the first to record with him.
and sixteenth notes in the right hand, Monk combined
Most critics and many musicians were initially hostile
an active right hand with an equally active left hand,
to Monk’s sound, but soon learned how his sound
fusing stride and angular rhythms that utilized the keys.
was so important to jazz music. As a composer, Monk
was less interested in writing new melodic lines over
popular chord progressions than in creating a whole
new architecture for his music, one in which harmony
and rhythm melded seamlessly with the melody. Today
Thelonious Monk is widely accepted as a genuine
master of American music. His compositions constitute
the core of jazz repertory and are performed by artists
from many different genres. He is the subject of award
winning documentaries, biographies and scholarly
studies, prime time television tributes, and he even has
an Institute created in his name which has become the
center of amazing jazz progression.