Most jazz musicians don’t pay much attention to Washington. But Monk’s career is as unconventional as the famously difficult tunes left by his father, who died a decade ago “believing that the world didn’t want to hear what he had to say,” as his son recalls. For six years the younger Monk has been “trying to weave jazz into the cultural tapestry of this country” as head of a nonprofit institute named for his father. The Washington-based institute’s annual competitions have launched the careers of several young players. Monk wants it to help create a nationwide jazz curriculum in the public schools. He also wants to found an elite, all-scholarship jazz academy. Meantime, he’s fronting a top-flight sextet whose debut album, “Take One,” is a critical and commercial success. At 42, he’s on a roll-and so is the classic jazz he champions. Says the drummer: “I just wish I could tell [my father], ‘Daddy, they got it’.”

Monk Jr. wasn’t trained to be a missionary. As a child in New York City, he thought little of the fact that family friends included Dizzy Gillespie, Rollins and John Coltrane. Max Roach gave him his first set of drumsticks; Art Blakey gave him a full drum kit. Still, “Toot,” as he was known, was no jazz purist. “I grew up listening to Motown, Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone,” he says. After graduating from prep school, he played briefly with his father. But when the master retired, the son went into rhythm and blues. With his sister, Barbara, and the singer Yvonne Fletcher, he eventually put together the band “T.S. Monk” and scored a series of R&B hits in the early ’80s. “I was young and it was a lot of fun,” he says. When Monk Sr. died, in 1982, his children were riding high. But their success ended tragically two years later, when both women died of sudden illnesses. For two years, Monk Jr. did little beyond managing his father’s estate.

That’s no small responsibility. The pianist knew his own worth, and he left his son firmly in control of his legacy. His recordings of such tunes as “Straight, No Chaser” and “Epistrophy” kept right on selling; today the estate brings in more than $500,000 a year, far more than Monk ever earned during his lifetime, Monk Jr. says. Young Thelonious didn’t have to work. But after a close friend helped the family set up the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in 1986, he found himself drawn to making a comeback as a jazz player. And once he was playing jazz, he knew people would expect something special. “The name is an announcement,” he says. “This band has to be a bitch.”

The happy result of that psychological pressure was “Take One,” released last summer. Using seasoned players like pianist Ronnie Mathews and saxophonists Willie Williams and Bobby Porcelli, Monk recorded the album at his own expense, then used it to negotiate a deal with Blue Note that gives him broad artistic control. He and coproducer Don Sickler chose mostly gems of the ’50s and early ’60s (and a couple of recent tunes, one by the up-and-coming composer Donald Brown) as a foil for three great tunes by Monk Sr.: “Round Midnight,” “Think of One” and “Skippy.” This is a contemporary recording with the fullness and precision of an Art Blakey band; wisely, no attempt was made to mimic Monk Sr.’s unique piano style. But for the many who want more Monk, the son has .relinquished a treasure: a 1957 recording of his father and Coltrane at the Five Spot that Blue Note will release as a separate album early next year. As for young Monk, his band performs live only rarely, he says, to make sure every show is on a “classy, classy level.” But then, what could be classier than playing the White House?

title: “Like Father Like Son” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-03” author: “Robert Heller”

title: “Like Father Like Son” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-10” author: “Jeffrey Battista”

GAYLE MITCHELL LAKEWOOD, COLO.

DEBBIE FURLONG GREEN BAY, WIS.

ROY GIOVANNONI FRESNO, CALIF.