Discovering Thelonius Monk

Most recently I have discovered a Jazz great. I'm not really a jazz fan per se, but Thelonius Monk somehow came into sight a few days ago. It's been a great look into the insane life of really strange guy. I highly suggest watching the film " Straight no Chaser" It's a documentary on him. Here is a video of the song of the same name. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxX0-OaI5j0 Monk's solo is at about 3:00 minutes

I of course won't go into the specifics on this guy, i'll leave that up to you. He was insane on the keys taking the piano to a whole new level. He did things musically no one ever dreamed of.
It all started with me while my girlfriend Deirdre and I were in my kitchen and her iphone rang with piano tone. I exlaimed " Thelonius Monk is calling" For some strange reason I was facinated with him all of a sudden. Ever since I've been reading listening too stories of him.
This guy was amazing! He would play with extreme ferocity. In the film they showed him playing as he smoked a cigarette. He layed the cigarette down, grabbed a hankerchief from his pocket, wiped his brow layed the hankerchief on the keys (all of this while playing the bass notes) started to play the piano with the hankerchief on the keys. At this point I was starting to ask myself is this guy a genius or is he just Smacked out of his mind? The whole idea that everyone was buying it baffled me. It was as if Monk was playing a big joke on the rest of the world, but at the same time inventing new ways to play. After all of this the saxaphone player started his solo and Monk gets up from the piano, and stands on stage facing the audience. He then begins to spin around slowly. I've read stories that compare this dance to Sufi's spinning but he was much slower and rythmic.
Now one of the most strange things about this guy is that one of his closest friends was named Pannonica de Koenigswarter she was Barroness related to the Rothchild family. Here is a photo with Monk and Pannonica's Bentley http://www.jazzwax.com/images/2008/02/12/mok_2.jpg
She was a great friend to many Jazz musicians of the time, but she really took Monk under her wing.
I wish I had time to say more, but I hope you get the jist of it all. Check him out. I hope you have the chance to discover Thelonius monk the way I did.