Thanks for more jazz education, Brett. I love hearing that Monk was a mysterious figure given to long silences, more proof for me that behind so many intense artistry lies deep introspection, something we have chalked off over the centuries as eccentricity, and yet is is this very "eccentricity" that sets genius above the rest of us.
T. S. in the ‘90s. I remember him telling me that Monk was the only person in jazz who could not be imitated. He said that your job in jazz is to be yourself, and no one did that better than Monk.
I believe his title “Ugly Beauty” best expresses his uniqueness.
Very cool, good to hear! No doubt ‘twas an interesting interview - if was for a mag or journal and you’re able to share, would love to read it. TS is such a nice guy & talented drummer, met him a couple of times but not for an extended interview.
Unfortunately it was a segment for public radio, and I have no transcript of the interview. I have a DAT tape but no longer anyway to play it! A fad of the early ‘90s.
Thanks, Bret - enjoyed the article very much and the film was very interesting / to see the foreign spelling of the band names, etc., in the credits and the funny images at the very beginning too.
One of my main regrets in life was not becoming aware of Thelonious enough to see him at the Frog & Nightgown jazz club in Raleigh when I was growing up there in the 60s/ early 70s. I’ve read the interesting details about his club gig there in the excellent Monk biography by Robin D.G. Kelley. I subsequently saw a lot of great bands there and then finally made it to NYC to see Monk’s Quartet at Avery Fisher Hall, Summer of 1975.
His sax player that night was Paul Jeffrey who later moved to NC to become the jazz teacher at Duke Univ & hired me to play drums w/ his local combo for a Duke frat house party gig early 90s when I was a volunteer for a lot of Durham/Chapel Hill community jazz concerts, incl initial formation of the Monk Institute.
Thanks for this. I’d heard a lot about Monk, but never really found my way in until I got a CD of Monk’s Dream at my local library sale. It was cheap and worth a try. I fell in love with the opening (title) track. The rest of the album is great too. I plan to listen to more for sure.
I really like this comment: “The sheets of sound that Coltrane developed on ballads and burners alike owed something essential to Monk’s demonstration that tension did not need to resolve immediately, that harmonic ambiguity was not a problem to be solved but a texture to be inhabited. Monk showed Coltrane that you could live inside a chord rather than simply pass through it.” This is exactly what my music teacher has been talking about for a while now. It’s starting to make sense.
Oh Thelonious Monk. Several years ago at a duet performance during Chick Corea’s Blue Note residency John McLaughlin stated that Monk was the “essence of jazz”. They played 2 Monk tunes that night. Recently I read a piece where Sonny Rollins considered Monk to be a guru. He considered Coltrane’s experience to be the same. Monk’s music and life are well worth a deep dive for listeners and musicians alike. Monk is an essential point of concentration, education and continual bliss. Everybody dance now.
Yes, and you use his greatest band as an example at the end. Those Columbia recordings are gold. He is the GOAT. Nobody swung harder. Nobody could bring the childlike wonder and enthusiasm that sprung forth a joy at a level that is still unsurpassed to me.
Not only was Monk a unique legend in jazz (and music overall), it could be argued that his rhythmic approach anticipated New Jack Swing (!)
Interestingly enough, I appreciated Dave Brubeck's approach to soloing by absorbing Monk first (Dave's use of block-chording was dissonant in it's "own sweet way").
And for his justly celebrated 1956-59 period at Riverside (this includes the three official studio tracks and the Carnegie Hall Concert with Trane as well as the Five Spot dates with Johnny Griffin and the Town Hall concert) my favorite period of his is the Columbia Records era with Rouse and John Ore/Butch Warren on bass and Frankie Dunlop on drums (1961-64) or the Larry Gales/Ben Riley rhythm team (1964-68). Very cohesive quartets and solid playing by one and all.
Thanks for more jazz education, Brett. I love hearing that Monk was a mysterious figure given to long silences, more proof for me that behind so many intense artistry lies deep introspection, something we have chalked off over the centuries as eccentricity, and yet is is this very "eccentricity" that sets genius above the rest of us.
I interviewed Monk’s son
T. S. in the ‘90s. I remember him telling me that Monk was the only person in jazz who could not be imitated. He said that your job in jazz is to be yourself, and no one did that better than Monk.
I believe his title “Ugly Beauty” best expresses his uniqueness.
Very cool, good to hear! No doubt ‘twas an interesting interview - if was for a mag or journal and you’re able to share, would love to read it. TS is such a nice guy & talented drummer, met him a couple of times but not for an extended interview.
Unfortunately it was a segment for public radio, and I have no transcript of the interview. I have a DAT tape but no longer anyway to play it! A fad of the early ‘90s.
Understandable, no worries!
Thanks, Bret - enjoyed the article very much and the film was very interesting / to see the foreign spelling of the band names, etc., in the credits and the funny images at the very beginning too.
One of my main regrets in life was not becoming aware of Thelonious enough to see him at the Frog & Nightgown jazz club in Raleigh when I was growing up there in the 60s/ early 70s. I’ve read the interesting details about his club gig there in the excellent Monk biography by Robin D.G. Kelley. I subsequently saw a lot of great bands there and then finally made it to NYC to see Monk’s Quartet at Avery Fisher Hall, Summer of 1975.
His sax player that night was Paul Jeffrey who later moved to NC to become the jazz teacher at Duke Univ & hired me to play drums w/ his local combo for a Duke frat house party gig early 90s when I was a volunteer for a lot of Durham/Chapel Hill community jazz concerts, incl initial formation of the Monk Institute.
Thelonius, Alvin Ailey, Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix. Yeah.
Though an icon in music he remains entirely overlooked in the world of dance.
Nobody could boogie like T Monk…he had moves
Thanks for this. I’d heard a lot about Monk, but never really found my way in until I got a CD of Monk’s Dream at my local library sale. It was cheap and worth a try. I fell in love with the opening (title) track. The rest of the album is great too. I plan to listen to more for sure.
I really like this comment: “The sheets of sound that Coltrane developed on ballads and burners alike owed something essential to Monk’s demonstration that tension did not need to resolve immediately, that harmonic ambiguity was not a problem to be solved but a texture to be inhabited. Monk showed Coltrane that you could live inside a chord rather than simply pass through it.” This is exactly what my music teacher has been talking about for a while now. It’s starting to make sense.
Oh Thelonious Monk. Several years ago at a duet performance during Chick Corea’s Blue Note residency John McLaughlin stated that Monk was the “essence of jazz”. They played 2 Monk tunes that night. Recently I read a piece where Sonny Rollins considered Monk to be a guru. He considered Coltrane’s experience to be the same. Monk’s music and life are well worth a deep dive for listeners and musicians alike. Monk is an essential point of concentration, education and continual bliss. Everybody dance now.
Yes, and you use his greatest band as an example at the end. Those Columbia recordings are gold. He is the GOAT. Nobody swung harder. Nobody could bring the childlike wonder and enthusiasm that sprung forth a joy at a level that is still unsurpassed to me.
Great read.
Drive me to Harlem, or somewhere the same
Not only was Monk a unique legend in jazz (and music overall), it could be argued that his rhythmic approach anticipated New Jack Swing (!)
Interestingly enough, I appreciated Dave Brubeck's approach to soloing by absorbing Monk first (Dave's use of block-chording was dissonant in it's "own sweet way").
And for his justly celebrated 1956-59 period at Riverside (this includes the three official studio tracks and the Carnegie Hall Concert with Trane as well as the Five Spot dates with Johnny Griffin and the Town Hall concert) my favorite period of his is the Columbia Records era with Rouse and John Ore/Butch Warren on bass and Frankie Dunlop on drums (1961-64) or the Larry Gales/Ben Riley rhythm team (1964-68). Very cohesive quartets and solid playing by one and all.
thank you!