Herein, the author does not adopt the stance of a specialist in jazz but, instead, uses jazz in order to raise questions about anthropology and its use of the notion of "belief". Herein, he does not discuss Thelonious Monk as such but, instead, the pianist and his reputation. Refusing an immanent sort of description and avoiding recourse to "artistic cooperation" as an explanatory factor, he focuses on interaction. How is a belief in "Thelonious Monk" activated in the ritualized moments of a presence ? A few of these moments are isolated; and the forming of beliefs rather than their contents, examined. Our relation to Thelonious Monk involves three elements (selected out of an infinity) - improvisation, "interiority", silence - that, far from being delivered to us by an omnipotent nature, are, themselves, the product of our cultural constructions.
