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Thelonious Monk
With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music— let alone modern culture—simply hasn’t been the same. Recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original sound that even his most devoted followers have been unable to successfully imitate.
His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition, spanning the entire history of the music from the “stride” masters of James P. Johnson and Willie “the Lion” Smith to the tonal freedom and kinetics of the “avant garde.” And he shares with Edward “Duke” Ellington the distinction of being one of the century’s greatest American composers. At the same time, his commitment to originality in all aspects of life—in fashion, in his creative use of language and economy of words, in his biting humor, even in the way he danced away from the piano—has led fans and detractors alike to call him “eccentric,” “mad” or even “taciturn.” Consequently, Monk has become perhaps the most talked about and least understood artist in the history of jazz.
Born on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Thelonious was only four when his mother and his two siblings, Marion and Thomas, moved to New York City. Unlike other Southern migrants who headed straight to Harlem, the Monks settled on West 63rd Street in the “San Juan Hill” neighborhood of Manhattan, near the Hudson River. His father, Thelonious, Sr., joined the family three years later, but health considerations forced him to return to North Carolina. During his stay, however, he often played the harmonica, ‘Jew’s harp,” and piano—all of which probably influenced his son’s unyielding musical interests. Young Monk turned out to be a musical prodigy in addition to a good student and a fine athlete. He studied the trumpet briefly but began exploring the piano at age nine. He was about nine when Marion’s piano teacher took Thelonious on as a student. By his early teens, he was playing rent parties, sitting in on organ and piano at a local Baptist church, and was reputed to have won several “amateur hour” competitions at the Apollo Theater.
Admitted to Peter Stuyvesant, one of the city’s best high schools, Monk dropped out at the end of his sophomore year to pursue music and around 1935 took a job as a pianist for a traveling evangelist and faith healer. Returning after two years, he formed his own quartet and played local bars and small clubs until the spring of 1941, when drummer Kenny Clarke hired him as the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem.
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Worth the Wait!
by Troy Hoffman
Many historical, live jazz performances have graced the past and thankfully were caught on recording; being released shortly after. For example, Art Blakey Quintet's A Night at Birdland, which is regarded as one of the best live jazz shows ever recorded. The performance is from the winter of 1954, and it was soon released on record that coming fall. That seemed to be the average turnaround time for a live jazz record in those transformative years. Certain live recordings, however, ...
Continue ReadingThelonious Monk: Celebrating 75 Years Of His First Recordings Revisited
by Stefano Merighi
Affrontare oggi queste pagine monkiane significa non solo riconsiderare l'importanza cruciale di un repertorio senza tempo, ma provare proprio un'ebbrezza dell'ascolto difficilmente eguagliabile. Thelonious Monk marchia a fuoco con la sua personalità tutta un'epoca del jazz che è quella rivoluzionaria del bebop--nonché quella riformista" dell'hard bop--e stabilisce molte delle coordinate che ispirano la migliore musica africana-americana di oggi, sia di orientamento free che di stampo armonico progressive. In questo caso, la collana ezz-thetics realizza un'operazione davvero interessante, assemblando ...
Continue ReadingThelonious Monk: With John Coltrane 1957 Revisited
by Chris May
Once again, the ezz-thetics label has taken some of the finest artefacts of mid-twentieth-century US jazz and sonically restored them, bringing an unprecedented level of clarity, precision and presence. It is no exaggeration to say that the Swiss-based label's work can be compared with the restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel during the 1980s, both in terms of the quality of the original material and the artistry with which the renovation has been executed. The ...
Continue ReadingThelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners
by Richard J Salvucci
Writing about being lost for words" is not the ideal way of starting a review, but it may be the plain truth. Perhaps Thelonious Monk is an acquired taste. Perhaps not. Whatever the case, this particular release of Brilliant Corners is just that--brilliant.The whole package is superb and really defines Craft Recordings Small Batch" vinyl series. The technical literature accompanying the recording says Each edition is cut from its original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman and pressed on ...
Continue ReadingMonk Impressions: Frank Kimbrough to Miho Hazama + some Brötzmann
by David Brown
It's time for the Jazz Continuum here on G-Town Radio. This week, some father and son work from the O'Farrill family, a remembrance of German Free Improv saxophonist Peter Brötzmann who recently passed, and a whole lotta Monk as interpreted by a variety of artists from Frank Kimbrough to Miho Hazama. And of course, new releases, recent acquisitions and gems from the archives. Playlist Thelonious Monk Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 00:30 Vince Ector ...
Continue ReadingApril Songs -Soulful Singles - Lesser known '50s players!
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This week on the Jazz Continuum, a set of April themed tunes from Sarah Vaughn to Anthony Braxton, soulful singles from Sugar Pie DeSanto to Irma Thomas, plus a swinging' set of lesser-known jazz men from the '50s and more. Playlist Thelonious Monk Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 01:00 Charlie Parker With Strings April In Paris" from Charlie Parker With Stings (Bluebird/Legacy) 01:30 Thad Jones I Remember Paris" from Thad Jones (Debut) 05:23 Eric ...
Continue ReadingConcert Promoter Danny Scher
by Lawrence Peryer
In this episode...Spotlight On host Lawrence Peryer chats with long time concert promoter, Danny Scher. Danny had an illustrious career working with legendary concert promoter, Bill Graham but as a younger man, at the start of his career, booked Duke Ellington and Vince Guaraldi. As a high school student in Palo Alto, CA, Danny Scher came up with the idea to book Thelonious Monk to play his school's auditorium. A recording of that special concert finally saw the light of ...
Continue ReadingDoc: The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
From 1957 to 1965, photographer W Eugene Smith lived in loft space at 821 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Smith had already established himself as a pioneer of the journalistic photo essay—a collection of images that told a story in magazines, most notably Life. Before the rise of the documentary in the early 1960s with the advent of the portable shoulder camera, Smith's photo montages served the same purpose in still images. In 1957, Smith left his wife and four children ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Thelonious Monk
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thelonious Monk's birthday today!
With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music— let alone modern culture—simply hasn’t been the same. Recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original sound that even his most devoted followers have been unable to successfully imitate. His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition, spanning the entire history of the music from the “stride” masters ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Thelonious Monk
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thelonious Monk's birthday today!
With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music— let alone modern culture—simply hasn’t been the same. Recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original sound that even his most devoted followers have been unable to successfully imitate. His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition, spanning the entire history of the music from the “stride” masters ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Thelonious Monk
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thelonious Monk's birthday today!
With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music— let alone modern culture—simply hasn’t been the same. Recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original sound that even his most devoted followers have been unable to successfully imitate. His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition, spanning the entire history of the music from the “stride” masters ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Thelonious Monk
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thelonious Monk's birthday today!
With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music— let alone modern culture—simply hasn’t been the same. Recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original sound that even his most devoted followers have been unable to successfully imitate. His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your ...
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Doc: The Jazz Baroness
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
If Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter hadn't moved to New York in 1951, we'd probably have far fewer recordings by Thelonious Monk. Nica, as she was known, was a member of the wealthy Rothschild family, and her decision to relocate to Manhattan came after separating from her husband. She left her five children behind and took a suite at 995 Fifth Avenue. Soon, she began frequenting jazz clubs, where she had a deep and inquisitive respect for the art of bebop ...
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Jazz On A Summer's Day 60th Anniversary Edition - 1958 Newport Jazz Festival
Source:
Glass Onyon PR - William James
Jazz on a Summer's Day is one of the greatest concert movies ever made, a timeless record of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, with some of the most stunning images of live music ever brought to the cinema screen. Conceived by stills photographer Bert Stern (Vogue magazine, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn) and brilliantly filmed over three days in August 1958, Jazz on a Summer's Day provided the template for future concert documentaries such as Monterey and Woodstock. Interspersing footage of ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Thelonious Monk
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Thelonious Monk's birthday today!
With the arrival Thelonious Sphere Monk, modern music— let alone modern culture—simply hasn’t been the same. Recognized as one of the most inventive pianists of any musical genre, Monk achieved a startlingly original sound that even his most devoted followers have been unable to successfully imitate. His musical vision was both ahead of its time and deeply rooted in tradition... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your ...
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New Monk: Denmark 1963
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On March 5, 1963, Thelonious Monk was in Copenhagen, Denmark, to begin a short European tour. That night, he performed at the city's Odd Fellows Mansion, named for the local branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows that bought the rococo building in 1900. Monk was joined by Charlie Rouse (ts), John Ore (b) and Frankie Dunlop (d)—the same group that had appeared on Monk's Dream, the pianist's first Columbia album recorded in October 1962. The quartet performed By ...
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For Labor Day: “Work”
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
The admonition above may seem contradictory, since Labor Day was designed to honor those who labor by giving them the day off. We presume that workers in the US and in Canada (where this is Labour Day), are observing the intent with picnics, ball games, jugs of lemonade and family festivities of all kinds. It is unlikely that Thelonious Monk had Labor Day in mind when he composed “Work” for his first Prestige recording session. But for our purposes, let’s ...
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