Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist

Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted in the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith and and Duke Ellington, yet in many ways he stood apart from the mainstream jazz repertory.

2 Explanations

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DIVYESH BATRA

Can the split in C,D and E mean : Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk as Some Jazz Pianist "ABC" and composer Thelonious Monk? A team of two artists? This will change the meaning of the sentence. Please explain.

Feb 24, 2015 • Comment

Jonathan , Magoosh Tutor

Hi. No, that interpretation wouldn't work in this context. As "jazz pianist" is written, with no article "the" or "a," it is referring to Thelonious Monk.

If we had "A" jazz pianist and composer Thelonious monk, then we would have the meaning you're referring to, but, although it would be grammatically correct, it would still be strange -- why name Thelonious Monk but NOT the jazz pianist?

Also, if we had a previous sentence referring to some other jazz pianist, we could say:

"THE jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk..." But this would still slightly ambiguous because "the jazz pianist and composer" could still be describing Thelonious.

Mar 16, 2015 • Reply

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Mike McGarry, Magoosh Tutor