Bluehawk is a blues-in-B-flat composed by Thelonious Monk. It was first recorded on October 21, 1959 for the solo piano album Thelonious Alone in San Francisco. Monk wrote the tune after a visit from Guy Warren in 1958, and its melody borrows from Warren’s The Talking Drum Looks Ahead from the 1959 album Themes for African Drums. The title honors Monk’s friend Coleman Hawkins and the Black Hawk club in San Francisco. The track appears on Thelonious Alone in San Francisco (1959), produced by Orrin Keepnews, and is a standout example of Monk’s compact jazz with a bluesy edge.
