The legacy of jazz musician Thelonious Monk could have been his style or his instrument — the piano — but the legacy he left behind to pass onto the next generation is innovation.

T.S. Monk, jazz drummer and son of Thelonious Monk, has found his own niche while keeping things fresh. After an absence of almost four years from the recording studio, T.S. Monk and his band have returned in full force with “Higher Ground,” an album full of diverse influences and original tunes.

“There has been a lot of resistance to change, which I think is very hypocritical in an art form based on change,” Monk says.

After his last album, “Crosstalk,” Monk says his frustration with people in the jazz industry had reached a peak. After dealing with many major labels, Monk says he began to feel disenchanted.

“I reached that point of critical mass — I wasn’t really up for what I call the ‘perp walk’ with the label, which is when they make you feel like a criminal if your record isn’t selling,” Monk says. “I didn’t feel like doing that dance anymore.”

His decision to separate from major labels put his recording career on hiatus, but he kept busy under the radar. Monk scoured the entire planet looking for his father’s live recordings so he could one day release them. He also served as chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, an organization that funds after-school programs, music education and scholarships.

When the time came for Monk to record another album, he says he knew he had to do it on his own label.

“Reconfiguring my career was a fluid process that started with disenchantment and ended in Thelonious Records,” Monk says.

By putting the album out on his own, Monk says he was free to make the music he wanted to, free from the restrictions of a major label.

“My focus is on the music that I like and the jazz police hate,” he says. “I’m gonna go to my audience and have fun. ‘Higher Ground’ is me at my best, having fun.”

Monk’s album comes at a time when he says jazz is having problems focusing on the music in favor of arguing over what is ‘real jazz’ and what is not.

Despite the adversity, Monk has not refrained from incorporating different musical styles into his music, even though he knows it will upset jazz purists.

“It was time for me to be exactly who I am. T.S. Monk is a guy who is traditional, straight ahead, a little rocky, a little funky and a little Latin-y,” Monk says. “No one has ever liked me being just a this or just a that. They like me being a bit of an everything man — the kinds of records I’m making is the kind the audience responds best to.”

To support “Higher Ground,” Monk has embarked on a tour with bassist David Jackson, trumpet player Winston Bird, pianist Nick Rolfe and saxophone players Keith Newton and Bobby Porcelli.

Monk says he stresses the importance of a jazz band having a solid lineup because often, the accompanying musicians on a record and the accompanying musicians on the road are different. Keeping the band performing as a solid unit helps to keep the live shows interesting and energetic.

“I come to bring the house down,” Monk says.

“I come to make you laugh, maybe make you cry and to make you think.”

“We entertain the heck out of anyone. They won’t feel like they’ve been to a cultural event or a jazz history course, they’ll just feel like they saw a good band.”