“Monk”
I have my own very personal relationship with Thelonious Monk. The suits he wore, the hat, the dark glasses. How he’d hit two half notes almost as if he was trying to discover what note he might discover “in between.” How it was about the sound, the color, the texture. How he’d just get up and dance during a performance. The silences. Absolutely brilliant albums like “Monk’s Dream” and “Brilliant Corners.” How he was simultaneously a pivotal figure in the emergence of bebop, but also in the emergence of serious modern music. His Blue Note albums (before Blue Note was big time). And virtually everything he did until 1960s rock and declining health led Columbia to quietly drop him from their roster. How he took the rap for fellow band mate Bud Powell on narcotics charges, and as a result was banned from performing in NYC for six years. Monk was so cool in my circles that I just assumed it always was that way. Um, bad assumption. The poor guy was beaten down in the media for years. Was just reading a 1958 review that was dismissive, scathing, and utterly wince-inducing. It makes me wonder what it is about time that gives us perspective. How Monk had trouble paying his bills, and the “why” pertaining to the media, his jarring sound and personality, the Bud Powell incident, and being an African-American jazz musician at the time he pursued his craft. And (best for last) how Monk was a family man. He loved his wife, he loved his kids, and he wrote music for the kids. On that last point, when the gig was over, Monk didn’t hang around. He went home.
I never understood those who say his music is not intended for casual listening, that it demands your attention. I guess I shouldn’t feel surprised that I don’t buy-in to that notion. I first learned the Beethoven late period piano sonatas and string quartets by (you guessed it) casually listening to them. And I always found Monk soothing to listen to casually. He’s not about flashy technique, he focuses on colors, he accentuates silences, his left hand and right hand play as one (which was not so for a range of other bebop pianists). I believe you can appreciate Monk at various depths. An example of this is the chart “Brilliant Corners” (which Sonny Rollins famously described as Monk’s most difficult tune). I purposely mention what Rollins said because, in order to relax and take it in as the listener, you need to know Monk isn’t “noodling” (my term to mean playing without some sort of musical idea or without some sort of musical thought you’re trying to convey. Just blowing the horn or tickling the ivories without purpose.) Monk’s music is highly structured, in fact. So relax, and listen. There is a method to the madness. Drive, clean the house, put the album on somewhat softly, and just let it wash over you.
On that point, Monk actually disliked the avant-garde musicians people thought he “was supposed to” like. Because Monk was an architect who built a unique structure to house his music. The jazz avant-garde was interested in burning down the house, eg, letting the music burn out of control. What is amazing about Monk’s legacy is that it was through the house that Monk built (more than those who tore it down) that new generations of musicians are even able to understand how best to burn down the house themselves. In other words, Monk has helped jazz musicians since Monk to imagine freedom from functional harmonies, freedom from standard song structure and time signatures, and freedom from western notions of musicality. The irony in all this is not that jazz musicians since Monk have found freedom via such highly structured music, nor is the irony that Monk could not see all the ways to burn down the house himself. The irony, I suppose, is that the avant-garde became Monk’s audience — these were his people…contributing to his fame, despite the fact that he barely could make ends meet during his own lifetime.
Thank you, Monk, for all you gave us, for persevering despite the hardship, and thank you for loving your family all the while, taking the “how not if” approach to family life. I, personally, don’t believe in having ”role models,” but for those who do, there is much to discover in understanding Monk’s life and what drove him. And many, many brilliant corners for all of us to discover along the way….
