Bebop, as an American jazz form, cannot be discussed, without making mention of Thelonius Monk, often times referred to as "the high priest of bebop". He along with a small, select coterie of musicians birthed this new form of jazz. Monk the traditionalist went beyond the conventional to expand a tradition of his own and helped "evolve" the jazz of the era into modern jazz. HIS sessions up at Minton's in the early 1940s helped cast the jargon of bebop.