Thelonious Monk is my musical godfather. I first heard him when I was eight years old while playing chess with my friend Leroy Watts. Leroy was the leader of the local Black Panther cell in Pittsburgh and he introduced me to a lot of things I would never had been exposed to otherwise. Monk's music made sense to me from the start and I've been hooked ever since.
In his autobiography, Miles Davis frequently mentioned that during the bebop days, Monk was the glue and the guiding hand. He wrote that they always knew they were on if Monk's feet were moving. If they weren't moving, something was wrong.
The above clip is from the film Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Thelonious Monk - Evidence
3 comments:
The lighting and camera work stand out. It has a Cinéma vérité atmosphere. Beautiful. Well, jazz band rehearsals are still just as disorganized as they were back in the day. My man is wearing some floods too- check 3:30- 4:05. Dig that.
Very cool. --Bunk
Hi anon & Bunk,
Straight, No Chaser is one of my all-time favorite movies. Best thing Clint Eastwood ever did, in my opinion.
Post a Comment