TS Monk Sextet February 22, 2008

Drummer, bandleader, composer and vocalist T.S. Monk was drawn to the drums before the age of ten. His destiny was sealed when Max Roach, with whom he studied, gave him his first drum set. He joined his father's trio and toured with his dad until the elder Monk's retirement in 1975. T. S. then launched into the music that had captivated him and his generation, R&B. He first toured with a group called Natural Essence and afterward formed his own band. The Mingus Big Band is a 14-piece orchestra devoted to the vast repertoire of the late Charles Mingus and the music he left behind at his death in 1979.