Author Topic: Thelonious Monk. Straight, No Chaser (Read 104 times)

mikedm · « **on:** December 19, 2007, 01:29:49 PM »

On a whim I picked up a copy of ?Thelonious Monk. Straight, No chaser? on DVD. My previous knowledge of Monk is limited to references made in this club and by others in interviews. In short, scant.

I don?t know how much new information the bio contains for Monk enthusiasts, but I enjoyed the live concert footage (from an appearance in1968), in-studio footage, home movies and interviews. His son provides a very personal view of his father and his parent?s marriage.
For a non-jazzer like me, the music varied from intricate to straight forward jazz - lol, if there is such an animal. Monk was out there. What I wasn?t prepared for was learning about his decline and it's effect on those around him. His son's interview is poignant. It makes me wonder if his mind was so busy with music that the ?real world? couldn?t hold his attention.

If you look around, you can find a new copy for about $10. I bought mine in of a places a grocery store check out line.

inthelows · « **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2007, 02:55:21 PM »

One of my all time fav's. He was one of my early influences. Very versatile. NLP

the_8_string_king · « **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2007, 11:05:43 PM »

Monk is unquestionably one of the greatest of the greats of jazz, one of the all time greatest jazz keyboardists, and one of the best of the 20th century.

I happen to own a really nice and very rare set of his complete Riverside recordings -audiophile edition from Classic Records.

If you like what you hear and want to hear more, I'd be happy to burn you a DVD or several. Contact me if interested. Beware... I rarely check my email, so expect a delay if you take me up on it.

jakebass · « **Reply #3 on:** December 20, 2007, 03:03:17 AM »

I love Monk, a true original in his composition and improvisation.
I must share a funny story though....
In the early nineties a UK jazz station was launched, imaginitively titled, JAZZ FM their apparent knowledge of jazz seemed shaky at best and they seemed to be marketing themselves as a fad station, as jazz was going through one of its popular culture revivals which seem to happen at regular intervals in the UK.
Anyway, despite not thinking very highly of the station I did occasionally listen on the way home from gigs, as late at night they tended to play more content that I would enjoy... After listening with great pleasure to a Monk big band version of Blue Monk, I had all my doubts about the stations lack of integrity confirmed when the presenter announced that the previous track had been written and preformed by The Loneliest Monk

there is just nothing you can say after that

Jake

(Message edited by jakebass on December 20, 2007)

David Houck · « **Reply #4 on:** December 20, 2007, 06:47:04 AM »

I have that DVD too; pretty interesting. We had Epistrophy in our set list for a while; but we were never satisfied with it, so we dropped it. I'ld like to try 'Round Midnight sometime, and a few others as well. He wrote a lot of really cool stuff.

lbpesq · « **Reply #5 on:** December 20, 2007, 06:55:47 AM »

The Loneliest Monk? Isn't that who Hendrix was thinking about when he sang 'scuse me while I kiss this guy? lol

Bill, tgo

adriaan · « **Reply #6 on:** December 20, 2007, 08:02:19 AM »

Bill, the title states very clearly that Monk preferred things straight. Although it supposedly refers to alcoholic beverages.

jacko · « **Reply #7 on:** December 20, 2007, 01:14:58 PM »

The loneliest monk is a victor wooten song from his 'What did he say' album.

Bill.We play Purple haze and our singer gets so bored with it he usually sings something along the lines of 'scuse me while I eat this pie'.

graeme

(Message edited by jacko on December 20, 2007)