TheloniOus Monk, goddamnit! There's a second O in the man's name! GODDAMNIT! GET IT RIGHT! SHOW SOME FUCKING RESPECT!

been listening to Alone In San Francisco a ton lately. i think solo monk is my favorite monk.

me too. dislike rouse.

the trio stuff on The Unique is really good too

yeah, was listening to that one too! there are some of those 60s columbia records that sound fine to me, but they really are a step down from the 50s.

That Kelley book is exhaustive and well researched and is pretty much indispensable as the final word on Monk but dear God could it have used an editor.

Anyone read the Pannonica bio?

Just been listening to Blue Monk and marvelling at how Gods used to take the same taxi cabs and breath the same oxygen supply as us. Well, obviously not in England but you know what I am talking about.

Thread title reminds me of a live Clifford Brown set where he introduces "'Round Midnight" by calling Monk "TheOlonious."

Gods used to take different taxicabs and breathe different oxygen from regular people in England?

You cannot juxtapose people like Monk to places like Dewsbury or Huddersfield and yeah he is a God!

Was reminded of this thread's title when I saw this:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/candidate-knows-how-to-get-action-to-fix-an-oft-misspelled-name/?hp

and leave it to Phil Schaap:

There is a birth record in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Monk’s first name is spelled quite differently. I have not seen this document but I have seen different spellings of his given name that cite it. I most trust John Chilton who states in print that this document says “Thellous Junior Monk.”

I further believe Monk, himself, who informs us that his father was Thelonious and that our Monk is, indeed, a Junior. The drumming son is the third (III). I don’t have total faith that “Sphere” was always in place as a family {middle for our Monk} name. Still, Junior as a middle name for a Junior seems unlikely. I would hazard a guess that our Monk’s name at birth was Thelonious Monk, Junior. Limited literacy and racism are likely to have contributed to a flawed birth record.

As to the street. The street sign has recently appeared with a misspelling: “T-h-e-l-o-n-i-u-s”. This was not always so. I was at the street naming and for many years it appeared correctly as “Thelonious Sphere Monk Circle.” It has become one of the more often stolen NYC official signs and a replacement eventually carried the misspelling of his given name.

NPR is streaming a soon-to-be-released Paris 1969 show.

Huh, interesting rhythm section - they push a lot more than Ben Riley/Larry Gales. Never heard of them before.

I got that CD/DVD in the mail this weekend. The CD is great - the track listing has been shuffled, though, to put the piece with Philly Joe Jones guesting all the way at the end. On the DVD, which reproduces the original TV broadcast, it comes in the middle. (My DVD player is broken, so I haven't watched it yet.)

fuckin hate this thread title

― adam, Saturday, March 3, 2012 3:10 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm. mods pls delete/rename thread thx!!!

There was a nice little half hour Radio 4 Great Lives episode on Monk earlier, you yanks will probs need ex-pat to hear it on beeb i-player. There was some stuff on it that was revelatory to me. The Rothschild heir who booked the Albert Hall for weeks for him, only for him not to get a work visa. That he often couldn't even gig for years because of a revoked cabaret card due to minor drug offences. Miles couldn't play with him because they would argue hard.

It can be downloaded from this page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b069rvbl

Hilarious. The headline on that story spells it "Thelonius."

I think Monk would have seen the funny side but very fucking shoddy from the beeb.

it club

is it

I thought it was Theolonious. But never mind, I never typed that anywhere, apart from just now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9udeWOjjls
this is a superb Monk documentary, I was just browsing but ended up watching it all.

Thought this was belated birthday revive. But yeah, doc is good.

Happy birthday TheloniOus!

I couldn't do any of my rudiments.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T6MeeHzjh5s/WnjVPvI9QCI/AAAAAAAALo0/qmUslq_-8MIyzG0HRMjsI1zY1PySOSV1QCLcBGAs/s1600/41REBb3FKzL._SS500.jpg
This latest Gregory Lewis album with Marc Ribot on guitar and Jeremy Bean Clemons on drums features some of the funkiest b3 organ since Jimmy Smith, it's rather good.

I've been coming back to a lot of Monk stuff this year because I'm slowly but surely getting through that Robin Kelley bio, and listening to the records in order as they come up.

Also watching this documentary (which is probably what the broken link upthread was), it's wild to see some of this footage, the Columbia studio with Teo Macero, etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT9VeJBcEBM

That Frankie Dunlop interview from upthread is still up:

"And if something comes to mind during a concert that you're not sure you can pull off, don't do it. That's why they have the woodshed. Monk said he'd rather have a drummer play strictly time than to bust in with some flash and mess up the time."

(posting this for my own benefit)

Experimental footage-recycling doc Rewind & Play is a must watch

there's some mention on the rolling jazz thread from this year and also at Monk's Poll: the compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk, just FYI

i agree that it's great

Ah thank you. The movie’s title proved tough to search here