Acoustic pyrometry-based active temperature monitoring of gas turbine combustors, including industrial gas turbine (IGT) combustors is incorporated into the combustion monitoring and control system by addition of an acoustic transmitter or acoustic transceiver that transmits a sound wave in a line-of-sight with a plurality of thermoacoustic sensors, such as dynamic pressure sensors. Sound transmission time-of-flight is measured by the controller and correlated with path temperature along the line-of-sight. Path(s) of acoustic transmission serve as absolute temperature measurement that optionally is used for calibrating dominant mode passive bulk temperature measurement. In an integrated thermoacoustic pressure-based sensor and monitoring/control system embodiment, the controller correlates performance of an combustion thermoacoustic properties in order to identify combustion anomalies by wavelet or Fourier analysis techniques, determine bulk temperature characteristics within the combustor with dominant mode frequency analysis techniques and determines absolute active path temperatures within the combustor with acoustic transmission and time-of-flight analysis techniques.